tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58653001981802502052024-03-13T23:22:24.129-04:00Jansen JunctionKarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-19767192371050721002013-06-16T13:26:00.000-04:002013-06-16T13:26:09.507-04:00Happy Father's Day, Pop!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, on Father's Day, I would like to honor a man who stepped into my life when I was about five years old, married my mom, and CHOSE to be my DAD! He didn't have to love me, he didn't have to give me his last name, he didn't have to make me his daughter...but he did! And for that, I will forever be grateful! :)<br />
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My first memory of my dad is probably one he doesn't even know about yet. I remember a night in that week between Christmas and when he married my mom. I know it was after Christmas because I was holding a doll I'd gotten for Christmas that year and I know it was before they got married because it was at my grandparents' house, which means that my mom and I were still living there. You see, I snuck down the stairs after I was supposed to have been asleep and sat on one of the lower steps. From my hiding place, I could see my mom and the man who would love her forever sitting on the couch in my grandparents' living room. There's no doubt in my mind (then or now) that he loves my mom with his whole heart!<br />
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On the day when he placed a wedding ring on my mother's finger, he also placed one on mine and told me that he not only loved my mother, but he loved me too and as far as he was concerned, we were all family now. And since that day, there was never a doubt in my mind that he loved me every bit as much as if I were his biological daughter. And when I was about seven years old, he decided to make our father/daughter relationship official...and he adopted me as his own!<br />
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Sure, there were times when we didn't get along...but isn't that always the way with fathers and daughters? And he has a rough exterior that might remind you of a grizzly bear sometimes...but inside that rough exterior is a heart of gold! He loves his family just as fiercely as that grizzly growl he has sometimes...and he would do anything in his power to protect each and every one of us! <br />
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When my dad laughs, he laughs with a hearty laugh that comes from his toes. Nothing warms my heart more than to hear my dad laugh or to feel his strong arms embrace me in a hug that comes from the deepest part of his heart! His love has a way of making you feel safe and secure, even when it seems a horrible storm is all around you. I always knew I could go to him with a problem and he would always come to my defense and help me through the hardest struggles. Most of all, he was always there for me...and that means the world to me!<br />
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My dad's favorite hobbies were fishing and hunting. He taught me taught me how to bait a hook and reel in a fish. He taught my brother how to hold a gun and wait patiently for his prey. And he's passing these down to his grandsons. Last summer, he taught Christopher how to fish while he was down here for a visit. He and my brother have taken my nephews on hunting trips and taught them all about hunting...a hobby they still enjoy today!<br />
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I am so blessed to be CHOSEN to be Bobby Huffaker's daughter! I'm thankful for his influence in my life, for the lessons I've learned from him, and for the love I've felt as his daughter! You know, what they say is true...anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a DADDY! And my daddy is indeed VERY special! :)<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Happy Father's Day, Daddy! I love you!</span></div>
Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-84814064733430457312013-05-12T11:33:00.003-04:002013-05-12T11:33:55.524-04:00Happy Mother's Day, Mom!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, on Mother's Day, I want to share a few fond memories I have of my mother (pictured above with me as a baby on my grandparents' front porch). I remember when I was three years old, my preschool teacher had each of us make a handprint in plaster of paris (or something like that) and when it hardened, she spray-painted it gold and we gave it to our mothers for Mother's Day...my mother held on to this for many years, even when it chipped. I remember when I was about five or six years old, she was trying to teach me how to blow a bubble with my gum. Unfortunately, we were in the car at the time, and I didn't quite have the gum positioned just right between my teeth...and it went flying across the car at her! Instead of getting mad, she laughed! :)<br />
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My mother LOVED yard sales...and she still loves finding a deal! I remember getting up early Saturday mornings to go to yard sales with her...finding little treasures here and there, and just spending time with her. I think that's what I loved most of all...spending time alone with her. She worked for the telephone company...and when the office she'd worked for most of her adult life closed up in our small town, she had to transfer to work in a city that was an hour or more away from where we lived, so I didn't see her much during the week during that time. <br />
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My mother always wanted the best for us and she made sure each major holiday was one to remember! My brother and I would wake up on Christmas and Easter mornings (that is, if we ever actually made it to sleep in the first place!) to find quite the stash from Santa or the Easter Bunny. Now, as a parent, I realize what a sacrifice that was for our parents...but I think she enjoyed seeing the excitement on our faces as we discovered some of the very things we had been longing most for...and those items were always there! Those days were truly magical...even after we discovered the truth about who actually left the gifts! ;)<br />
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My mother had great dreams for her children...she wanted my brother to be a doctor and she wanted me to be a nurse. However, we didn't share her dreams...and we both became civil servants in our professions - my brother a police officer, and me a teacher! ;) But...she's getting part of her wish with my sister-in-law, who is currently studying to be a nurse - so, at least there's one person in the family in the medical profession! ;)<br />
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My mother has always called me her favorite daughter and my brother her favorite son...good thing she only had one of each! ;) Now, she calls my brother's wife Stephanie her favorite daughter-in-law and my hubby David her favorite son-in-law. She has welcomed both Stephanie and David into the family as if they were her own children and loves them every bit as much! :)<br />
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One thing is for sure...my mother absolutely LOVES her grandchildren with her WHOLE HEART! Every time I talk with her, she's telling me of something she is doing or has just done with my brother's boys...and I can sometimes hear her heart break that she is unable to do some of the same things with my boys due to the physical distance between us. But when we go up to visit, she makes sure to do something special with ALL of her grandsons! It may be a day at the park, a movie, or just having my brother's boys over for a cousin sleepover...and even pitching a tent in the family room for the boys to "camp in" together! And these boys sure do love their Gran, too! :)<br />
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I am blessed to have a mother who has taught me so much, who has stood by me even in the most difficult times, and who loves my boys with her whole heart! And so today, I want to say THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU, MOM!!! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! :)<br />
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<br />Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-66621846915985917342013-05-11T16:49:00.001-04:002013-05-11T16:49:35.255-04:00A Loving Sacrifice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On this day
before Mother's Day...Mother's Day Eve, if you will, I am reminded of a women
who may find this day very bittersweet.
On some level, I can understand...but I know I will never fully
understand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a
time in my life when Mother's Day was a very bittersweet day for me.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I was thankful for my own mother and for my
grandmother, who was also very influential in my life, and happy to celebrate
them both...but it also served as a reminder of what I so desperately longed for...to
have a child I could call my own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But one
woman, who has lived a very hard life and made some unwise choices along the way,
changed all that for me! Because of her
sacrifice, I could know the joy of being a mother, and I have a lot of respect
for her for making some very difficult and self-less choices! She was willing to allow the
child growing inside of her to continue to live in her womb until he was ready
to be born. A child she knew she was not
in a position to care for, but whom she loved very deeply. Because of her love for this little boy, she
sought out a family to adopt him...and she chose us! When
this little boy was born, the nurses placed him in her arms. She looked at him with so much love in her
eyes, snuggled with him for a moment...and then said the words I will never
forget - "I think your MOMMY wants to hold you now!" And with that, she handed him back to the
nurse, who handed him over to me. To
this day, the very memory of that moment sends a rush of emotions to my heart
and tears to my eyes. This woman, who
had just labored for several hours in very hard labor, just called ME his
MOMMY! Excited, I took him from the
nurse and for the moment, his birth mother was forgotten. That is a moment that I wish I could do over...to
offer her the thanks that she deserved, instead of being all wrapped up in the
little miracle in my arms. The little
boy I sat breathlessly by as I waited for him to take his very first
breath. The little boy I'd overheard the
doctor say just prior to his birth had the cord wrapped twice around his
neck. The little boy that caused a flood
of tears in my eyes and down my cheeks as I finally heard that sweet (and LOUD) cry I had been longing to
hear. The little boy we named
Christopher and took home the next day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And as if
that weren't enough, almost eight years later, this same woman found herself
with another baby growing in her womb that she didn't feel equipped to raise...and
once again, she chose us! She went back
to the same agency that had brought us together before and they made a phone
call to us. Immediately, our hearts
soared with the possibilities...and we asked God to work out the details - and
He did! About 8 months after that phone call, I was
blessed again to be in the delivery room with this woman - this time, a c-section delivery. I had the privilege of praying with her
several times during the delivery and in the days that followed at the
hospital. Again, she constantly referred
to me as this little boy's mommy, even asking for my permission to hold him and to sign paperwork the hospital handed her on his behalf! Never
once did she take any credit for all she had done to give him life. Instead, she thanked me over and over again
for giving him a home with his brother!
Three days later, after having the joy of spending each one of those
days not only bonding with my newest son - but also getting to know his birth
mother and her family, we gave our little boy a name and took him home...our
precious Jayden!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This woman
endured physical pains I may never know, and emotional pains I will never feel
- all so I could be a mother...and she did it twice! I will always respect her and appreciate her
for that! I know she may never see this post, since our
adoption is only semi-open (which means we met each other, but identifying
information such as addresses and last names were not shared & all contact
goes through the agency)...but nonetheless, I wish her a very Happy (Birth)
Mother's Day - because without her, I would not BE a mother to two of the
biggest blessings in my life! :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On a side
note...if you know of a woman who finds herself in an unexpected pregnancy, whether
she is choosing adoption or to raise the child herself, be an encouragement to
her! My sons' birth mother shared with
me during our time together at the hospital that she had so many people (at
church, no less!) give her grief about choosing adoption for Jayden. Knowing this, and other similar examples of
her determination to do what was right for the boys she carried, I know without
a shadow of a doubt that she is a stronger woman than I will ever be! She loved these boys every bit as much as I
do...and she loved them enough to give them the best she could...even if that
meant she would never see them again! I
cannot even begin to imagine how she was able to make such a loving
sacrifice...but I'm so thankful that she did!!!
:)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-79901250711500145642013-04-23T14:56:00.001-04:002013-04-23T14:56:23.603-04:00Who Knew?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For weeks, maybe months even, a commercial for the book pictured above has been advertised over and over on one of our favorite TV channels. They talk about how rice can save a cell phone and wine can keep away wasps...and every single time the commercial comes on, Christopher asks me to order it, but I never do. After all...you could probably find all the information on the internet anyway. But, what I didn't know is that this book would do something no other book has ever done before...something that certainly could not be substituted with anything on the internet...it got my 9-year-old son to read a book without pictures!<br />
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Now, Christopher is an avid reader, and has been since we started homeschooling and geared his reading lessons toward his interests! He will often stay up late into the night reading in his bed...but the only way I've been able to get him to read a chapter book of any kind was to force him to do so as part of his schoolwork. He would not choose one voluntarily. He will happily read any picture book or comic book you put in front of him just fine, thank you very much. But if the book has few to no pictures, he's not interested one single bit...until now!<br />
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Here's how it happened. We made a trip to Wally World (Wal-mart) primarily for some formula for Jayden. However, I always like to browse a bit, so after checking out the other baby items and electronics, we made a pass through the book section on our way to the checkout. In our previous browsings, Christopher had found a hot-dog slicer and a car air freshener, both of which he spent the majority of our time in the store trying to convince me we needed to purchase. I happened to glance down and see the Who Knew? book on the shelf and decided to pick it up and see what it was all about. Needless to say, a certain not-so-little boy happened to notice and the bargaining began! He wanted this book and he was immediately willing to sacrifice his previously found treasures for it! <br />
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"Please, Mom...can we get it?" He said, followed by a slight pause as he debated his next move, and then without even waiting for my response added, "I'll put these two (the hot dog slicer & car air freshener) back! PLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEE!!!!!" (Ok, maybe he didn't carry out the "please" quite that long, but it makes for a great effect, doesn't it?). ;)<br />
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Now, what my little bargainer didn't know was that I had no intention of purchasing either of the items he'd been holding on to throughout the store (or maybe he did and that's why he gave them up so quickly!) and I was seriously considering purchasing the book anyway. Something else he hasn't quite figured out yet...I'm a sucker for books! One of my favorite childhood memories is going to the bookstore with my grandmother to pick out a new book. My grandmother loved to read and I'm pretty sure I have her to thank for my own love of reading! So...it's no surprise to most anyone that I love to buy books (one look at the bookshelves lining the hallway of my house will tell you that much)! And if it will encourage my child to read and doesn't contradict with our beliefs, then it's a pretty sure bet I'll buy it for him...he just doesn't know that yet. ;)<br />
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Naturally, I agreed to his bargain - a win-win situation if ever I've seen one! And he has been reading that book ever since! Ever so often, he will share with me something he's learned...but mostly, he's reading! And there's not a single picture in the whole book as far as I can tell...though I haven't had much of an opportunity to check it out, aside from looking at it in the store! <br />
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So...while the little boys are sleeping, my oldest son is reading and I am blogging...it's peacefully quiet in our house right now! And I owe it all to the authors of a book titled Who Knew? ;)Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-760863381752218732013-02-17T14:25:00.000-05:002013-02-17T14:25:16.527-05:00Hand-Me-Ups & A Massive Update<br />
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I finally came to terms with the fact that my newest little guy isn't a newborn anymore. I know, I know...I've had eight wonderful months with him to get used to the idea...but those months flew by so quickly that I barely had time to notice! Now, he's 8 months old, sits up on his own, eats pretty much anything I put in his mouth (and prefers table food to baby food, thank you very much!), and is trying to crawl! Oh...and those cute newborn and 0-3 month size clothes...yeah, they don't fit anymore (and haven't for awhile now). He can still fit into some 3-6 months (mostly onsies)...but that won't be for much longer, I know. So...I finally broke down and decided to sort through the boxes & bags of Hand-Me-Ups that some precious friends gave us for him...and am now doing laundry...lots of it! ;)<br />
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Some people call them Hand-Me-Downs...but a sweet friend, when I gave her some of Christopher's outgrown clothes for her boys a few years ago gave me the term "Hand-Me-Ups" and I loved it! And in reality, that's exactly what they are...because some of these clothes carry some pretty expensive brand names! Name brands I couldn't justify purchasing on our current budget (I didn't even realize some of the brands made kids clothes!). And so, I'm thankful. Not because I'm a brand-name kinda gal (I'm just as happy putting my child in something from Wal-Mart or Target as I am from the Gap or Gymboree, especially since they wear them for such a short period of time!)...but because they are quality clothes...most of which look brand new! And since I don't have to spend money on clothes that he will outgrow all too soon, it opens up opportunities to do other things with my boys that I might not otherwise have been able to do. And again, I'm thankful! :)<br />
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OK, ok...you are probably thinking right about now that I promised you an update on my Valentine post and here I am posting again without so much as an update on the last five months of our lives! No need to fear...an update is here! LOL! OK...reality check...I'm pretty sure most everyone who reads this blog is already a Facebook friend of mine or gets a Christmas letter from us, so you are probably pretty much up to date and don't really need or want me to rehash it all anyway. If this is you, no worries...you can stop reading here and not miss anything (except maybe a few really cute pictures of the boys)! :)<br />
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For the rest of you still reading (if there are any of you)...here's an update on our lives:<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<u>October</u></h2>
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Lots of firsts for Jayden in October...he began holding his head up pretty regularly and really wanted to see all that was around him! He also started eating baby food this month. We started with veggies, moved on to fruits, and eventually meat (not sure when we introduced each food...except I know he had his first meat on Thanksgiving...turkey!). ;)<br />
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Christopher was a month or so into his second year of Classical Conversations (CC). He's the only boy in a group of girls...and we're ok with that (he seems to be ok with it for the most part, too)! ;) I am amazed at all he learns in his CC class! Each week they do a presentation to the class of their choosing (in the picture below, Christopher is sharing his lapbook that he'd made of the memory work from the first six weeks) and a science project (below are the owl pellet dissection - not a favorite of my little germaphobe, but with some encouragement, he did participate - and observing the sections of crawfish). The year is divided into four quarters, each six weeks in length. Their Fine Arts section is divided by those quarters. The first quarter is focused on art lessons, the second quarter is tin whistle lessons, the third quarter is art appreciation (focusing on the artists of the period we are studying in our memory work), and the last quarter is music appreciation. These are things I probably would never (or even have the ability to) offer on my own...which makes me even more thankful for our CC community!</div>
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Another benefit of homeschooling is that when Daddy has a conference for his work (sometimes in the summer, sometimes in the fall), we get to go along! This fall, Daddy's conference was in Orlando, FL...so we loaded up the van and headed toward the hotel! Unfortunately, we hit a nail or something on the interstate, which caused a flat tire. The good news is that my van has a warning feature when the tires lose pressure to let you know before it goes totally flat and causes a problem on the road. Because of this, we were able to pull off at a rest area so Daddy could have plenty of room to change the tire...with a little help from his favorite assistant (and not worry about the danger of traffic)! ;) We ended up having to stop in Brandon and get a new tire since the spare isn't really intended for long-term use or interstate speeds. We stopped at Costco, but they didn't have a tire to fit and they recommended Sears. So, off to the Brandon Town Center we went. While Daddy worked out all the details, the boys and I wandered around the mall and Daddy caught up with us for dinner in the food court while our tire was being replaced. :)<br />
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While Daddy was in his conferences all day, the boys and I headed out for a "field trip" to Wonderworks. Christopher, being the scientist that he is, had a BLAST! He blew some giant bubbles, experienced what an earthquake would feel like (several times), walked on a giant keyboard, moved a ball with his mind, and many other wonderful things! Jayden...well, he pretty much slept through it all! ;) Someday we'll go back and let him experience all the fun with his brother!</div>
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Jayden did get an adventure of his own while we were in Orlando, though! He had his first ever swim in the pool...and unlike his brother at that age, he LOVED it!! Now that Christopher has learned to love swimming, I see many fun summers in our future! :)</div>
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Jayden also had his first Halloween...unfortunately, he was sick with a cold and couldn't go out. :( So, instead of dressing up, he dressed like Daddy and stayed home while big brother and I headed out! </div>
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Our tradition every year is to stop at Grandma Jansen's house to trick-or-treat and then go to our church for their Halloween alternative. Christopher dressed like a fireman this year. Each year, we usually shop for the next year's costume after the holiday is over (when they are 50-70% off). I just now realized we didn't do that for next year. Guess I'm gonna have to make them something! ;)</div>
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<u>November</u></h2>
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November was a very important month for our family! It was the month where Jayden OFFICIALLY became a Jansen! Of course, in our hearts, he had been a Jansen long before he was even born...but now, he was legally ours! It was a crazy roller coaster ride. We had gotten information from the attorney about the hearing in October (just before we went to Orlando) stating that we needed to return the paperwork she'd sent, along with $2,000. Thinking this was a mistake, because all legal fees were included in Christopher's adoption and in a breakdown we had gotten from the agency, a chunk of what we'd paid was allocated for legal fees, we called the agency to confirm. Turns out, the money we'd already paid for legal fees was to cover what the attorney had done for the agency...not her fees for the hearing. It was a rough few weeks...but it all worked out in the end! And on election day, November 6, 2012, Jayden officially became our son!<br />
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Having seen pictures on a friend's facebook page, I knew there was a chalk art festival in Sarasota while we were up that way for the adoption hearing...so, after the hearing and lunch, we stopped by to view the 3D chalk art. It had rained, so not all of them were as good as the one above...but some of them were amazing!</div>
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With my new-found love of sewing, I decided to make pillow pals for all the littles in my family. The only girl, Hannah Kate, requested a "ballerina one"...and so, I learned to make a tutu...thanks to a Youtube video (and descriptions from friends and a lady that works at JoAnn's)! Not only does the tutu fit the pillow pal, but HK can also untie the ribbon, take it off the pillow pal, and wear it herself (which she did as soon as I told her that was a possibility)!<br />
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Above are all the pillow pals I made...each one just a little bit different. If the child had a favorite color, I used those colors...otherwise, I picked fabric to make it somewhat unique to that child. The two on the ends are for my nephews...same colors, and yet, still different! </div>
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At some point in November, my computer bit the dust. There was some problem with the operating system...so, even though it powered on, it wasn't much use to me. With Christmas just around the corner and an already tight budget, a new computer just wasn't gonna happen. So...I made do with my phone and iPad to check Facebook & emails, put in my Avon orders, and surf the web. But, neither one would enable me to blog effectively...so, that is why I was absent for so long! After David received his bonus in January, we were finally able to replace my computer...which is why I'm able to update this blog today! ;) The only thing is...all new computers come with Windows 8, which has quite a learning curve to it...but, I'm getting there! ;)<br />
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<u>December</u></h2>
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In December, Jayden got to go with me to my Avon Christmas party...all decked out in his Tiny Tillia by Avon attire! Even though he slept through most of it...he was the hit of the party! Christopher got to enjoy a day with Daddy at the office...he loves doing that!<br />
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Another big event for Jayden was that on 12/12/12...he got his VERY FIRST TOOTH! The second one came just two days later! All that drooling had finally paid off! And nothing like a couple of toofers to make you wanna eat something more than baby food! When we went for his six-month check-up, his pediatrician told us that he could eat anything, as long as it wouldn't choke him & gave the example that he could eat peanut butter, but not peanuts (due to the choke factor). Boy! Things sure have changed from when Christopher was a baby! Anyway...we started feeding him whatever we were eating in hopes of helping him avoid his big brother's picky eating tendencies! Grandma Jansen gave us a Baby Bullet for Christmas...so now he can have pretty much whatever we do! WOO HOO!<br />
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Another big event was that Jayden played Baby Jesus in a couple of the performances of The Living Christmas Tree at our church. They do seven performances...so three babies shared the role so that no one baby would have to be there at every performance...though we were there anyway because Christopher sang with PraiseKids (children's choir) in the performance and David was helping with Resonate (youth choir)...so we attended every rehearsal and every performance! But, we loved every single minute of it, too!</div>
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On the day after the last performance of The Living Christmas Tree, Jayden learned to sit up on his own! He was the oldest of the babies to play baby Jesus and they were a little concerned that he might not like laying down like a baby, as many babies who have learned to sit up on their own are like that. So, I wouldn't let him even practice sitting up on his own until after the performances were over (one of his performances was on the LAST DAY)! When I finally let him try to sit up on his own the next day, I was amazed! Of course, there was some falling over (which is the reason for the pillows behind him)...but he's come a long way since then! :)<br />
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Part of our Christmas traditions include going to the Christmas Eve service at our church. It's a candlelight service and all the adults, teens, and older kids get a candle as they enter. Little kids get a star on a stick. This was Christopher's first year getting a candle and Jayden's first Christmas Eve service...a first for both my boys! :) I love this service because we always sing Christmas carols together as a church family, then the Christmas story is presented from the Bible (this year it was read by some of the pastors and their families), and a message is given by our pastor. At the end, candles are lit across the sanctuary and the overhead lights are dimmed...it's absolutely beautiful! </div>
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Christmas morning was so much fun at our house! This was the first year that Christopher got REALLY excited about it. In the past, David and I have always gotten up before him on Christmas morning and had to wait for him to get up...sometimes even making lots of noise in the hopes of waking him up! Thankfully, I had an inkling it was going to be different this year and we roped off the door that led out from his bedroom and bathroom to the rest of the house so he couldn't get out if he got up before us. "Santa" left him a note letting him know not to bust through it until after Mom & Dad were up to let him out. Of all the things he got, I think Christopher loved his Hexbugs the most! Jayden seemed pretty interested in them, too! I am so thankful that Christopher is the type of big brother that he is willing to let his little brother see his new toys (as much as it is safe for him, anyway). I am so blessed by the relationship these two have already!</div>
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On New Years Eve, our tradition is to stay home and watch the ball drop as a family...then we have sparkling grape juice in fancy glasses to celebrate! Both boys stayed up to see in the new year...and Jayden was very curious about what we were drinking...so Daddy gave him a sip, too! Wanting to post the picture on Facebook, but not wanting to give the wrong impression, I also took a picture of Jayden with the bottle so everyone would know that it was just grape juice and nothing stronger! ;)</div>
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<u>January</u></h2>
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In January, Christopher decided that he wanted to learn to sew. He has watched me make things for him, his brother, and his cousins with my sewing machine and decided he'd like to give it a go. He not only made, but also designed, a pillow toy for his brother as his first project! He did very well...and I'm very proud of him! At least I know who will get use out of my current sewing machine if I'm ever able to upgrade to one that embroiders! In the meantime...I'll just have to share! :)</div>
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On January 11th, several homeschoolers from our area took our annual field trip to LEGOLAND! It's a great deal because the kids get in for about $5 and the adult tickets are around $25...much less than the normal ticket fees! This was the second such trip for Christopher and me...but a first for Daddy and Jayden! Christopher and Daddy had a blast on the rides while Jayden and I enjoyed the scenery! We ALL enjoyed a lunch at the pizza and pasta buffet inside the park! We are already looking forward to next year's trip!<br />
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<u>February</u></h2>
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As I mentioned in a previous post...DaRuMa's has a very special meaning to David and me on Valentine's Day (our first date)! This year, we celebrated our 11th Valentine's Day together by taking Christopher with us to DaRuMa (Jayden had some Grandma Jansen time). :)<br />
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Christopher loved watching the guy cook the food in front of us! He wasn't the most entertaining of chefs we've had there...but Christopher, not knowing any different, enjoyed it all the same! <br />
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Christopher especially loved the onion volcano (being that volcanos are his thing and all)! He was amazed! There's no doubt he enjoyed the whole experience...and is already asking when we are going back again! Oh Boy! I don't think it will be anytime soon (due to the cost factor)...but I know my favorite part of the whole dinner was watching him enjoy it all and his precious expressions! I just love being this little boy's mommy!<br />
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OK...that was quite the update...but, at least now you know what we've been up to! ;) I packed a lot more pictures into this update than I usually do...and it was no easy task! Internet Explorer kept refreshing itself and I kept losing pictures (especially if I tried to add more than two at a time)...so it took me a few days to complete the update as a result...but I needed the pictures to help me tell the story...so I persevered! You're welcome! LOL! ;) Hopefully, it won't be so long before the next blog post and I won't have so much updating to do! =)</div>
Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-72557674806816712662013-02-14T11:34:00.000-05:002013-02-14T11:34:14.580-05:00Happy Valentine's Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know...it's been a long time since I blogged anything at all here...and I'll try to do an update later...but this day is special, so it gets it's very own blog! ;) Eleven years ago today, something big changed in my life. They guy I had, up until that day, known only as a friend suddenly became so much more! Even though I was sick and had stayed home from work that day, I was convinced (pushed) by my precious friend Robyn to join our singles group at DaRuMa (one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook in front of you) for our annual Valentine's Day dinner. When I arrived, I was met by a very handsome man all dressed up and holding a single red rose (with our friends, who were all in on it, behind him)! To say I was surprised would be a great understatement!<br />
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Earlier in the day, he had called many times trying to see me and I kept turning him down. After all, I was sick, hadn't had a shower, and was not really in any mood to see anyone! What I didn't know at the time was he had a bouquet of flowers with which he had tried to surprise me at work (only, I wasn't there)! After dinner, we all went out for dessert...which is where he presented me with the flowers he had wanted to give me earlier. :)<br />
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A month and a half later, on Easter weekend, this man would ask me to marry him at the fountain in our church's courtyard with many of those same friends cheering us on (along with many others as they filed out of the church service)! In September of that year (on my maternal grandparents' anniversary), we would become husband and wife! I indeed married my best friend! <3 p=""><br />
Since that day, we have made a life for ourselves as husband/wife to each other and mom/dad to two very precious little boys. Not all of our days have been happy...but we've ridden this crazy roller coaster of life together and my sweet husband has loved me unconditionally through it all! I am indeed very blessed to be his wife! He listens to all my crazy ideas and angry rants...and loves me anyway! He tells me every single day (usually multiple times during the day) that I'm beautiful, even though he knows that's the hardest compliment for me to accept. He shows me he loves me with his actions. He helps out around the house...doing the laundry, a lot of the cooking, and so much more! He is the best daddy in the whole world...spending quality time with each of our sons...and even changing diapers (unless they are too messy - LOL!)! ;) He sends me random texts to tell me he loves me...especially when he knows I'm having a particularly hard day. He loves me just the way I am and would continue loving me even if I never changed at all (which is very hard for me to wrap my brain around!)! He cheers me on and supports me in everything I do! He encourages and does everything he can to help me when I'm trying to make changes to better myself. He is a gentleman through and through...and he's teaching that to our sons by example!<br />
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The picture above is a gift our oldest son put together for me for Valentine's Day. Christopher had prepared this all on his own without any prompting from anyone, but he had shared with his dad that he had something special for me, even though he didn't share what it was (he just kept asking David when Valentine's Day was and saying he had something special for me). Christopher woke up early this morning to present his gift to me. He had chosen a Fun Dip valentine from the box we'd bought after the holiday last year for him (it's one of his favorites) and a $100 bookmark he had in his room. Then, he wrote "I love you!" (using a purple marker - one of my two favorite colors) on an index card and made it into a paper airplane (his latest skill)! This gift meant more to me than anything he could have purchased at a store because I know it came straight from his heart! I know, without a doubt, that this idea came to him because his whole life, he has watched his Daddy make every day special for his Mommy...and always making Valentine's Day a little extra special! :)<br />
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David and I count that dinner on Valentine's Day at DaRuMa as our first date, since we had been friends long before that and had done many things together with our group of friends. We didn't have any "alone dates" (just the two of us) until after we were engaged...and even then, it was always in a public place. We made a point never to be completely alone while we were dating so that there could never be any reason for anyone to believe our love was anything but pure. In fact, David was such a gentleman that he would end each date together by kissing my hand. Only when I accepted his marriage proposal did he first kiss me on the lips (and he had even asked my permission to do so!)! I'm so thankful for the way God brought us together and the way David courted me. I am such a blessed woman...blessed beyond anything I could have ever imagined possible!<br />
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</3>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-47570910838335838232012-09-27T10:46:00.001-04:002012-09-27T10:46:11.291-04:00Ten Years Ago Today...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ten years ago today, I married my best friend! I made a promise to love him forever...little did I know ten years ago how easy it was going to be to keep that promise! Our love has grown by leaps and bounds over the last ten years and for that, I am thankful! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt it wasn't because of anything either of us have done in our own strength, but because of the One who brought us together in the first place, and Who helped us grow closer together and to Him as the years have gone by. What a love story He is writing! If you will indulge me a bit, I'd love to tell you about it! :)<br />
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About eleven or so years ago, I was praying over my list of qualities I wanted in a future mate. First and foremost, he had to be a Christian so that he could be the spiritual head of our household. He had to love me unconditionally. He had to love children and desire to build a family with me. And...well, I wanted him to have brown eyes. ;) It was the only physical characteristic on the list. And the whole reason I wanted my husband to have brown eyes? I wanted my child to have brown eyes. Well, as I was praying over that list one morning during my quiet time, the brown eyes jumped out at me and it was almost as if God were asking me, "Really? Is that a deal breaker for you?" I finally agreed that if he had the other qualities, brown eyes weren't really all that important after all. I look back on that day now and realize, that was what God was waiting for before revealing my mate to me...He wanted me to come into agreement with Him on what the man He had chosen for me would be like. David does not have brown eyes...but he fits all the other qualifications to a T! :)<br />
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The funny thing is that pretty much our whole singles group at church saw that God had chosen us for each other before either of us realized it! In fact, on one of our singles trips to Orlando, they kept "ditching" us so we would have time to spend "alone" together...yet we found out later, they were never all that far away from us. They could probably all have jobs in the CIA for their surveilance skills! :) It was on one of these trips that the veil was removed and David and I saw each other as more than just friends for the first time. We had been friends in the singles group for years, but never thought of each other as more than a friend until God decided the time was right. I remeber David and I walking from Universal back to the hotel were our group was staying (boys in one room, girls in another - back in the day when they would allow you to pack in as many people in a room as you wanted). As we walked, I kept silently praying and asking God, "Is this the one, God? If it is, thank you! If not, please let me know!" I silently repeated that prayer over and over as we walked. You see, I'd never had a dating relationship that made me feel like being with David felt. David treated me with such love and respect...like he really enjoyed being with me! He pulled chairs out for me at restaurants, paid for my meals, and carried my shopping bags for me at the outlet mall. That may sound silly and old fashioned to some of you, but it just melted my heart in ways that I can't even begin to describe! :)<br />
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This was a trip our singles group took to Orlando (we all had annual passes to Universal) just after Christmas 2001. I had spent Christmas with my family in Alabama, but met them in Orlando. On the way back, everyone in the van decided that David needed to ride back with me so I wouldn't have to drive back alone (of course, they were right behind us in the van). It was on this 4-hour drive that David and I really got to know each other as we shared stories about our family, our dreams, our interests, etc. We had so much in common and thought so much alike on so many things...it was like God made us for each other! Imagine that! ;)<br />
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We spent the next several weeks getting to know each other even better (always in a group or in a public place, so as to not be tempted to do anything we shouldn't before marriage). Then, on March 30, 2002, David asked me to be his wife at our church's fountain right after the Easter worship service. How very special! Our friends were gathered around us, taking pictures and blowing bubbles! David presented me with a boquet of roses...yellow for our friendship, white for the purity of our relationship, and red for love! :)<br />
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It had always been my dream to get married on my maternal grandparents' anniversary...and it just happened to land on a Friday that year! So, on Friday, September 27, 2002, I walked down the aisle of our church, which was the beginning of the best ten+ years of my life! :)<br />
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Our life has not always been sunshine and unicorns...we've had our struggles along the way. But, those struggles have served to bring us closer to each other. One of those struggles was going through infertility and miscarriage. I had always imagined that once I got married, pregnancy would naturally follow. But, that was not to be the way for us. However, God had greater blessings in store for us as a result. Because of our struggles with conceiving children, we sought out adoption earlier than we probably would have otherwise...and as a result, we have two precious sons! And...if you remember, the whole reason I wanted a husband with brown eyes is because I wanted my child to have brown eyes...well, Christopher has brown eyes! God is sooooo good!!!! :)<br />
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Today, I am thankful for a husband who loves me just as I am and also encourages me to be my best! He loves me even when I don't love myself. He encourages me when I'm feeling down and discouraged. He helps me in more ways than I could ever name. He is my rock, my confidant, my encourager, my friend! Without him, I would not be who I am today...and I'm thankful! And I'm thankful that God brought us together! When you let God write your love story, it is always far more amazing than anything you could ever write yourself! :)Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-75481798611669968452012-08-03T11:00:00.001-04:002012-08-03T11:00:10.853-04:00Chick-fil-A Day - Why I Chose To Attend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yes, I ate at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday (and on Thursday, for that matter)...but, it's probably not why you think. It really had nothing to do with same-sex marriage. If you know me at all, you know I'm pretty much a non-confrontational kind of gal. It's not that I'm wishy-washy...just that I try to respect ALL people, regardless of whether they think like I do or not. From what I read in my Bible, that's the kind of guy Jesus was...and my goal is to be more like Him (though I'm a long way off from that goal!). :)<br />
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I usually stay away from such controversial issues as this because in almost every one of them, I have friends on both sides. I read an article in the midst of the latest Chick-fil-A controversy that stated that Christians are not here to fight the issues. All too often, we put those issues/causes/whatever-you-want-to-call-them above other people. But that's not our purpose. We were given a commandment to love our neighbor. On Wednesday, I posted on my Facebook page verses in Matthew about this. Here are the verses:<br />
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"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" </div>
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Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.</div>
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This is the first and greatest commandment.</div>
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And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."</div>
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~Matthew 22:36-39</div>
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If I truly love my neighbor as myself, then I'm not going to cut them down for their sins any more than I'd want someone to cut me down for mine. Yes, according to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin. But so is lying, cheating, stealing, greed, and gluttony. God didn't specify any sins as more heinous than any other with the exception of blasphemy...so who am I to decide that someone else's sin is worse than my own? We are all sinners and we all need Jesus. He died to wipe away our sins so that we could spend eternity in Heaven...ALL of us! No sinner is better than another, just as no sin is better than another. God made ALL of us, He loves ALL of us...and He commands us to love each!</div>
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So...having said all that, why did I choose to participate in the Chick-Fil-A day? For the simple reason that I wanted to support a business that shares my faith and has, from the very beginning, based all of their decisions and operating procedures on Christian values...both when it was socially acceptable...and even now that it is not. My chicken sandwich was not against anyone...but instead in support of Christian values...something I do quite regularly anyway. You see, it wasn't all that out of character for me to go to CFA...just that I stood in a little longer line than usual. I wasn't making any kind of a political statement. In fact, had I not been asked, I would have made no statement at all, other than the purchase of a lunch (that I probably would have purchased that day anyway since we were at the mall for my son to get a haircut). But a lady did ask. She asked me if I knew what we were supporting. I simply told her I was supporting a business that stood for Christian values (which, by the way, seems to be a dying breed).</div>
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Another reason I chose to support CFA? Because a friend of mine told me a little known story about Truitt Cathey. You see, her parents worked for CFA when they were young...in fact, that's where they met. And when Truitt Cathey got wind of their pending marriage, he offered his own cabin as their honeymoon location. When he realized that their honemoon was planned for the same weekend as his family's annual gathering at the cabin, he paid for the young couple's honeymoon at a location of their choosing! My friend was born about 10 months later! :) </div>
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On a more personal note, when my cousin was dying of colon cancer, several of our family members went to CFA for lunch. The owner of the local CFA paid for ALL of our lunches (about 20, in total)! At the time, I thought it was simply a gesture of the individual owner, who also happened to be a friend of the family. However, today, I learned through CFA's Facebook page that this is not an isolated incident. A soldier returning from Iraq wanted CFA and his family called ahead because there were going to be about 15 or so of them. Not only did they set up tables for them, but they decorated them with American flags and other such patriotic fare...and the owner paid for all of their meals as well! That says a lot for a company and its values in my opinion. :)</div>
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<br /></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-62995672503331527002012-07-09T09:15:00.000-04:002012-07-09T09:15:03.454-04:00Happy Adoption Day, Christopher!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Eight years ago today, a judge made legal what David and I already felt in our hearts...the little boy we brought home from the hospital four months earlier was indeed our son! I remember that day like it was yesterday...the drive back up to where our son had been born, sitting in the courthouse waiting our turn, even the warning the judge gave us before signing the paperwork! He said, "You know, he's really cute right now...but there will come a day when he's not so cute and cuddly. There will come a day when he will test you. You can't bring him back when he's a teenager...if I sign this paper, he's yours forever!" He was right on three things...he's really cute, he has tested us (on many occasions), and he's ours forever!!! Not once in the eight years that I've had the pleasure of being his mommy have I wanted to take him back. I fact, we are hoping that when it is time for Jayden's adoption finalization hearing, we'll be able to have the same judge so we can tell him that not only do we not want to bring Christopher back, we came back for another just like him! :)<br />
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We are so blessed to have such a sweet, loving little boy! As his Aunt Betsy said last night, he is wise beyond his years. That has become even more evident since welcoming his little brother into our home! Christopher absolutely LOVES his new role as big brother! He's always thinking of Jayden and wants to make sure he is included as much as possible. Every morning when Christopher wakes up, he seeks out Jayden and loves on him before doing anything else. When we are at the table eating and Jayden (who has already eaten) is in his bouncy seat, Christopher says that Jayden is lonely and brings him close to the table<br />
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Since we first found out about Jayden, people have asked Christopher if he was going to help out with his baby brother...and Christopher would agree to anything EXCEPT changing the diaper...that's where he drew the line! Saturday night, a friend of our family had asked him the same question he's gotten so many times about changing diapers...and his response was, "NEVER!" But, for whatever reason, he changed his mind yesterday and actually changed Jayden's diaper...and it wasn't just a wet one, either! We have the video to prove it! Daddy did have to help with the wiping part, but Big Brother Christopher did the rest! I'm so proud of him!<br />
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I know it's been awhile since we've done a blog update (3+ weeks, to be exact)...but I've been a little busy (and sleep-deprived) since we got home from the hospital! ;) I'll do an update on Jayden soon...but in the meantime, I'll post some pictures of the brothers together! <br />
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The picture above was the first time Christopher got to meet Jayden. On the way over to the hospital, he asked David, "I'm going to get to see my brother in REAL LIFE...not just pictures and videos?!?" Yesterday, he made the comment that he had to wait a WHOLE DAY to meet Jayden! He had been so good about waiting patiently at the hotel and hanging out with Daddy while I was at the hospital...but these two statements make it obvious he was as anxious as everyone else to meet his little brother! :)<br />
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We had given Christopher his own camera as a Big Brother gift and he quickly put it to use when he met Jayden for the first time! :)<br />
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The above picture is what Christopher often does first when he wakes up...he finds his little brother and talks lovingly to him for quite some time before moving on to other activities. And the following pictures are just some great pictures of Christopher with his little brother! Christopher loves Jayden so much, he's always asking me to take pictures of the two of them together...and of course, I'm happy to oblige! ;)<br />
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If you are on Facebook, you likely have seen some of these pictures already. But, I felt the were worth repeating! :) As much fun as it is to have a new baby in the house...it's every bit as much fun to know that for the last 8 years, 4 months, and 3 days, I've had the joy and the privilege of being Christopher's mommy! He amazes me every day with his sweet spirit, his creativity, his tender compassionate heart, his enthusiasm, his stamina, his everything! And because of that, I can't end this post without a special thanks to his birth mom...because without her, none of this would have been possible! Because she made a decision to carry not one, but two little boys to full term and chose us to adopt both of them, I am one blessed woman today!<br />
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Happy Adoption Day, Christopher! I love you with all my heart!!!!<br />
<br />Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-58208506797992462072012-06-15T23:56:00.000-04:002012-06-15T23:56:24.949-04:00JAYDEN IS HERE!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I really wanted to write this blog last night, but I just couldn't put two thoughts together by the time I got back to the hotel. And I'm not sure I'll do much better tonight - but really wanted to get this post done before too much time passed. :) </div>
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We drove up Wednesday afternoon and checked into our hotel. Once we got settled in, we found a local restaurant and had dinner, and then went to Publix to pick up a few things we needed (our hotel has a kitchen, so it enables us to cook some meals & save on eating out). When we got back to the hotel, we gave Christopher his Big Brother gift from Jayden. He was so excited!</div>
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Christopher got his very own camera so he could take his own pictures of Jayden. Christopher loves taking pictures and video & we found out that his new camera lets him do both! <br />
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That night, I got very little sleep...but not for a lack of trying! I kept tossing and turning...and checking the clock! I finally fell asleep sometime after 12:30am (once I finally realized how to turn off the sound notifications every time someone posted to my Facebook page)...but I was awake again by 2am. I slept in little 30-45 minute segments until about 5:15am - so, I guess you could say I slept like a baby! LOL! ;) I met the lady from the adoption agency in the front of the hospital and she and I walked to the Labor and Delivery area together. When we got there, we found out that I was the only one allowed in - so we parted ways there at the nurse's station so I could go to where they were getting the birth mother checked in. I was given a surgical gown and booties to put on and handed a mask that they said I should put on just before going into the OR. After the nurse was done gathering all the birth mother's information, I asked the birth mom if I could pray with her and she said she would like that very much!<br />
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They took the birth mom in first to get her prepped for surgery while I waited in what would become the recovery room. When they were ready to begin the c-section, they called me in and I was shown a stool to sit on. As they began the surgery, the birth mom asked me to pray with her again, which I happily agreed! Before long, we heard a strong cry coming from the other side of the curtain. I stood up to see, but was quickly instructed to sit back down. His official birth time is 9:31 a.m. <br />
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Once he was out and the cord was cut, they brought him around to the warming table in the OR to clean him up. I kept hearing the nurses comment on the fact that Jayden looked like he was 42 weeks...which confirms what I thought when I saw him on the ultrasound! :)<br />
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Just like his big brother, Jayden has quite a good set of lungs on him! He was quite vocal about his objections to pretty much everything they did to him on that warming table! Just after the above picture was taken, they wrapped him up in a blanket and handed him to me. After giving his birth mom a minute to look at him, I got to carry him into the recovery room, where they weighed him (7 lbs. 8 oz.), measured him (19 1/2 inches), and gave him his first bath. The only time he wasn't screaming was when he was holding my finger. I couldn't get over how much he looks like Christopher did when he was born!<br />
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After they were out of recovery, we ended up in a room in the pediatric unit because they didn't have any available beds in the post partum unit. The nice thing about that is that every room in the pediatric unit is a private room. :) The birth mother's family came shortly after we were out of recovery and her mother gave me a hug and told me how thankful THEY were that WE were willing to adopt Christopher's brother! Oh...if they only knew!<br />
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This whole experience has been so different from when Christopher was born! We didn't get to spend much time with Christopher right after he was born...just about an hour or so in the nursery. Then, we went back to the hotel until he was ready to go home the next day. But with Jayden, I have been with him pretty much his whole life! Not only did I get to be there when he was born, but I've also had the pleasure of staying in the room for most of the last two days! The nice thing about being in the room with Jayden and his birth mom is that not only did I get to bond with my new baby, but I also got to know the birth mom of both my sons so much better! I have always had such great respect for her for having the courage to do something I know I could never do - place a child she'd carried in her womb for 9 months up for adoption! But, what's even more amazing is that from the very beginning, she's always referred to us as the parents! <br />
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I remember right after Christopher was born and she held him first, after awhile she told him, "I think your Mommy wants to hold you now" and had the nurse hand him to me. When we went for the ultrasound for Jayden, she always referred to David and I as the parents. And even today, as the nurse presented her with a consent form, she asked my permission before she signed it! There is no doubt in my mind that she loves these boys every bit as much as I do...and yet, she has done far more than I would ever be able to do - she's let them go because she knows that is what's best for them! For that, I will be forever grateful!<br />
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Today, Christopher got to come up to the hospital to meet his brother for the first time. The agency advised us against letting their birth mom meet Christopher before she signed the papers relinquishing her parental rights of Jayden, so it took a little bit of fanagaling to get it done. But, with the help of a wonderful nurse, we pulled it off without a hitch! When I told Nurse Millie what we wanted to do, she came up with the plan for me. She told the birth mom she was going to take him to give him a shot and invited me to come along. She took us into another room in the unit, where David and Christopher met us. David told me that on the ride over, Christopher said, "I'm going to get to see my brother FOR REAL, not just pictures and video?!?" ;) When he came in the room, all Christopher could say was, "He's so cute!" - which he repeated over and over during his visit! He also got a lot of use out of his new camera! ;)<br />
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After we had our visit, the nurse gave Jayden his shot and took him back into the birth mother's room while David, Christopher, and I went to grab some lunch. When I got back to the room, the birth mother's family was there and I got to visit with them as well. I have learned so many wonderful things about them that I look forward to sharing with my boys as they grow and ask! I'm so thankful for that time with them!</div>
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Tomorrow, we get to take Jayden home. The way it works here is that the birth mother can sign the papers to relinquish her parental rights 48 hours after the birth or when she is released from the hospital, whichever comes first. Because she had a c-section and had a hard time managing the pain afterwards, that time comes at 9:31 a.m. tomorrow. The agency director will go up in the morning around that time with the paperwork and meet with the birth mother. Once she has signed the papers and the baby is ready to go, I will dress him in the outfit I made for him and we will get to bring him home! I can't wait! :)</div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-12838865909196334672012-06-12T20:01:00.002-04:002012-06-12T20:01:42.262-04:00The Countdown is ON!!!<br />
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It is now 7:17pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. In less than 36 hours from now, I will be getting to the hospital to prepare for Jayden's birth! In 38 hours, our precious little guy should be here!!! To say I'm excited is, well, quite an understatement!!! And if you are friends with me on Facebook, you know just what an understatement that is! I have been posting the daily countdown for over a week now...and I'm down to hours (and occasionally minutes). ;) I've had some fun with my countdown, though. I found an app on my phone where I can send a fake text message...so I made it look like Jayden sent the text message below, then took a screen shot of my phone and pasted it on Facebook as one of the countdown days! ;)<br />
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Today is Jayden's due date, according to the last ultrasound (the one we went to & found out Jayden's a boy!). But, for some reason I may never know, the doctors scheduled the C-section for two days after the due date. I guess they know better than me...so, we wait! ;) I have now packed and repacked Jayden's diaper bag half a dozen times (at least!) and think I've made my final pack...and to be quite honest, we actually have 3 bags packed for Jayden! The diaper bag has diapers, formula, wipes, etc. needed for the trip home (including the cute teddy bear his big brother bought him). The second bag has back-up formula and diapers in case we need them (this includes size 1 diapers in case Jayden happens to be more than 10 pounds)! The third bag has extra clothes, burp cloths, etc. in case Jayden is a messy baby and/or if he is released from the hospital on Friday evening and gets to spend Friday night in the hotel room with us! Yeah...I'm well prepared...at least as far as Jayden is concerned. And to think...I was only a girl scout for one year (and I'm not even sure it was a whole year)! ;)<br />
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Today was a GREAT day! I took Christopher to Vacation Bible School at our church and then went to Calistoga to do some Homeschool Evaluations for a couple of families. One of the requirements for homeschooling in our state is that the child must be evaluated by a certified teacher at the end of the year to be sure that the child is making progress. Since I still have a current certification (and plan to keep it current), I'm able to do this for other homeschooling families and make a little pocket money! After evaluating a 1st Grade girl, 2nd Grade girl, and Kindergarten boy, I was off to make some Avon deliveries. My precious friend Sarah picked up Christopher from Vacation Bible School (along with her 3 precious children) so I could have time to finish my deliveries before lunch. I met them at Jason's Deli and we had lunch (including ice cream for dessert) and then headed off to the local children's museum for the kiddos to play while the mommies chatted. ;)<br />
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I happened to catch Christopher getting his friend ready her news cast in the Weather News Room at the children's museum. I love seeing him help others!<br />
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Then Christopher got a chance to be the news caster! ;) Only problem is that his shirt is blue (same color as the screen behind him)...so it looked like he was a talking head! LOL! :)<br />
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Lunch and an afternoon at the children's museum was EXACTLY what I needed to get my mind off the fact that today is Jayden's due date and the countdown to his birth. And yet...it takes me back to 8 years, 3 months ago when my cousin did something similar while I was waiting for Christopher to be born. We didn't have a scheduled birth date for Christopher and I was teaching at the time...so when the birth mom started to dialate and things were looking like it might be close, my principal advised me to go ahead and start my maternity leave. After 4 days of waiting at home with nothing happening, my cousin called me and asked me to spend the day with her. She took me to breakfast and then we helped move her husband's office. Afterwards, we went to McDonald's to pick up some Happy Meals for her youngest son's class...and it was there that I got the call that it looked like the birth mom might be in labor! That was Christopher's actual due date. It turned out, he was born the following afternoon. ;)<br />
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I know I've said it before...but I'm so thankful for my sons' birth mom! She is enduring so much so that I have the blessing and privilege to raise two precious children. She may get to feel their kicks and movement in her womb...but I get to tuck them into bed every night, experience their milestones, and watch them grow! So...if you think about it over the next few days, please say a prayer for her. I'm thankful that she has never waivered in her decision to place these boys with us, and yet, I know how much she loves them and how hard this decision is for her. Pray for her as she prepares to have surgery on Thursday morning. Pray for her healing after Jayden is born. Pray for her time of grieving. Pray for strength for her as she faces the days ahead without the sons she gave birth to. Pray that her walk with the Lord is strengthened and she draws ever closer to Him. :)<br />
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This may be the last post to the blog that I make before Jayden is born. So...if you are wondering exactly how long it is until his birth, just check the countdown clock at the top of this post! ;) Thank you all for being with me on this amazing journey! It's not over yet...in fact, it's really just beginning! But without your love, support, and prayers...I'm not sure we would be at this point! So...THANK YOU!!!! =)<br />
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<br />Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-86255654300405079492012-06-04T23:55:00.001-04:002012-06-04T23:55:31.438-04:00Big Brother's Day Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
What's that? Why yes, I am blogging twice in one day! What do you know! :) But I just had to share! This afternoon after Brady's mom picked him up, Christopher and I decided to go to the bowling alley and get some use out of those Kids-Bowl-Free coupons! Just us.</div>
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Christopher had a blast! We did use bumpers, but he didn't use the ramp thing. We were neck-and-neck with our scores! The boy is good! And we had a lot of fun together during this mother-son outing!<br />
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Christopher kept a close watch on those scores, too! He really enjoyed our special outing together. Funny thing is, one of the workers (who was apparently board due to the lack of work to do since there was only one other bowler in the building) asked me if I was a pro bowler. LOL!!! I looked for any hint of kidding or sarcasm...but found none! He was serious! Oh my! Either he didn't know much about the sport of bowling or he couldn't see the scores on the screen...because if he did, he would have KNOWN better! <br />
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However, looking at the form of my bowling buddy, maybe, just maybe he saw some talent there that was yet to be discovered! I'm not sure where he came up with this technique, but I've seen a few pro bowlers use it and, for the most part, the bumpers were unnecessary! He really did great! I think my favorite part was as we were leaving, he told me he really enjoyed it being just us! :)<br />
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Several weeks ago, Christopher had received some money from Grandma Jansen and Uncle Chuck. The money came without any strings attached, but Grandma did mention that he might want to buy his brother something with part of the money. So...of to Wally World we went for him to pick out something for his brother! We spent quite a lot of time in that baby toy aisle as he checked out each and every toy offered!<br />
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I was both humbled and amazed at the generosity of my precious son! I honestly thought he might pick out one, maybe two small items and use the rest of the money on himself. But, that was not to be the case! When he threw the third item in the cart, he must have noticed the look of surprise on my face and said, "What?!?" When I told him that might take most of his money, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, it IS for my BROTHER!!!" I couldn't help but grin and be oh so proud! We thought we were done when he saw a cute little teddy bear that said "My First Bear" on the tummy and was oh so snuggly! Christopher fell in love with it and immediately wanted to get it for his brother. But, when we added up the costs, it was more than he had the money for. So, as he surveyed the items in the cart, he remembered that I had purchased a turtle similar to, but smaller than the one pictured above and asked if it was staying with us or going with Brady. When I told him it was staying, he decided that his brother didn't really need two turtles and put this one back. There was some serious thought that went into each and every gift he chose for Jayden! You can tell he loves his little brother as much as we do! :)<br />
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<br />Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-69048210281731625942012-06-04T10:24:00.000-04:002012-06-04T10:24:05.890-04:0010 Days...and Counting!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It seems like just yesterday that we got the call about Jayden...and a million years away, too. It's been quite a journey - one that's not quite over yet! When I look back and remember the day we'd gotten the call, the days I didn't think it was going to happen, the phone call from a sweet friend telling me it would, the fundraisers, the unexpected financial blessings, the love and support from friends, family, and complete strangers...I am just amazed! I am amazed at all God has done and all He continues to do! If you have had any part in this journey, whether it be financial, hands-on service, and/or prayers...or even just listening to me and encouraging me, I am extremely thankful! It is because of you that we are now just 10 days away from Jayden's birth (unless he decides to come earlier)! You are all such a blessing to me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have a few minutes while Christopher is still asleep and the little "loaner child" (Brady) that we've been watching the last 3 months while his mother works takes a nap, so I wanted to take a moment and reflect on what I'm thinking today. No real agenda or plan to this post...just an opportunity for you to get in my head and share in my thoughts of the day (scary, I know!). :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We have a stroller (one that can also be a double stroller so that when Brady comes back in the fall I only have to push one stroller) and an infant car seat. The diaper bag has been packed...and re-packed, and re-packed again! ;) Last night, I sterilized all the bottles and pacifiers (and again re-packed the diaper bag). And yes, I may indeed count down every single day until his birth on Facebook! I'm just that excited!!!! =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This past weekend, a very dear friend of mine sent me a text message and asked if I wanted to go grab some Starbucks with her after church. I agreed...I'm always up for some girl-time! I met her after church and got in her car...as we are driving and chatting, I realize she's not going toward any Starbucks I know and I'm slightly confused, but enjoying the conversation so much that I don't think too much about it. After awhile, my friend makes a confession. "We're not going to Starbucks," she says. "We're going to Target. You're going to pick out your baby gift from me!" <i>WHAT?!?!?</i> ;) At this point, we are both laughing hysterically...me, mostly from surprise, her from the sheer joy of pulling off the surprise! ;) I could not believe it! But, I had so much fun walking through those aisles of precious little baby things with her...but even more fun was sharing in the conversations with her over those baby things! It reminded me of when I was a little girl and my grandmother would take me shopping for my birthday gift. She would take me to the store and hand me a buggy (a.k.a. shopping cart) and I could put whatever my little heart desired in that buggy! Then, when I had exhausted the aisles of toys and books, she would send me to the car with my aunt (who is 10 years my senior) and she would dig through the buggy to find several things to wrap up and give me on my birthday. My grandmother told me she did this so that she would know she was getting me something I liked, but it would also be a surprise! Those are some very precious memories of my childhood...unknowingly brought back to life by my precious friend! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thursday will be my last day with Brady (a.k.a. our loaner child) until the fall. His mom teaches at the school where I used to teach and I've been watching him since February. It's been great "big brother training" for Christopher...and a big help in reminding me what it's like to have a baby around again...after all, it's been 8 years since I've done the baby thing on a regular basis! I'm going to miss the little guy...he's become a part-time member of our family over the last three months. I think Christopher will miss him, too...that was evident during spring break when we didn't have him for a whole week! :) But, he'll be back in mid-August. We desperately need a new car. David and I have each had our cars since before we got married (10 years in September). Though David's car (a Toyota) is older than mine (a Suzuki), my car is in worse shape and is nearing the end of its life...giving great testimony to the value of a well-made car like Toyota! :) We haven't had a car payment in quite a few years...so, the money from watching Brady will come in handy! We are hoping to find a mini-van or other car with 3 rows of seats so that I have enough room for 2 car seats and a booster seat! Sad as it may sound, my dream car has always been a mini-van! I never longed for sports cars or anything like that. Because I have always wanted a large family, it's the mini-van that caught my car-envy eye! Yeah, I know...I'm weird.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had hoped that Jayden would be born on June 8th...that day seemed so perfect. We would be done watching Brady the day before and we would be back home in time for Christopher to go to VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church. It's also my dad's (and Aunt Ann's) birthday...and I couldn't help but think how special it would be for Jayden to share a birthday with his Pop! But, unless Jayden decides to come on his own, that's not to be. The doctors have determined that he will be born by c-section on Thursday, June 14th. Flag Day. I'm not sure how I feel about that...but it's really not my choice. I do not get to make decisions about Jayden until after he is released from the hospital. Until then, it's up to his birth mom and her doctors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think that's one of the hardest parts of this stage of the adoption...especially this time around. We have known about Jayden almost as long as his birth mom has. It's the closest I've ever been to carrying a child to full-term...and yet, just when most moms at this point are making birth plans (which my Baby Center app keeps reminding me I need to do), I'm just on standby. I wish there was a way I could feel what she's feeling. I want to feel Jayden move. I want to feel his kicks and punches as he tries to stretch out in his cramped living quarters. I would even welcome the heartburn, swollen feet, contractions, and any other uncomfortable parts of late pregnancy...just to be that much closer to my son. But, instead, I wait for phone calls from the agency (I will not even pretend that there is an ounce of patience as I'm waiting, either!) to tell me about the latest doctor visit and/or update. I do my best to make plans for his birth on our end...knowing every plan I make has to be flexible. And I wait. So, if you get tired of my daily countdown on Facebook, please forgive me. I'm just an excited momma anxious to meet her newest little blessing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For those of you who see me on a regular basis, you know I've been counting down for quite some time...first in months, then in weeks...now in days (and occasionally in hours)! :) But, someone actually caught me off guard without a ready countdown response! Last week at church, someone asked me how far away we were...and I couldn't remember if it was 2 or 3 weeks! I think it's because I got thrown off when they scheduled the c-section for 2 days AFTER the due date. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking with it! ;) But now, I know. And I can't wait! A sweet friend reminded me today on Facebook that I'm now at the "only one more Sunday without him" part! YAY!!!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">OK...I think that's enough for today. I'd like to say that I'll do a daily blog until he comes...but I know that's somewhat unrealistic. However, you just never know! ;) Thanks for indulging me in my ramblings of the day! May God bless you greatly for your love, caring and friendship! =)</span>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-27116948636332686072012-06-01T16:01:00.000-04:002012-06-02T11:14:22.941-04:00Showers of Blessings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When Jayden makes his arrival, he is going to be one of the most loved babies on the planet! I had the blessing of not one, but three gatherings to celebrate our newest son! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our BLG (stands for Bible and Life Group, a.k.a. Sunday School) at church does a Celebration of Life dinner for mommies who are expecting a child that is not their first. The mommy-to-be gets to choose the location and all the ladies in the group go out to dinner...the ultimate Girls Night Out! I, of course, picked Po Boys Shrimp Shack (owned by my friends Shawn & Josi Teeters)...and the evening couldn't have better! Since we went on a Monday night in "off-season," we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves...except for the one sweet couple who quietly sat behind us and came up to wish us well and take a picture of us before they left (I can't remember whose camera the lady used...but if it's you, can you please email that pic to me?)! What a wonderful blessing it was to spend an evening with these precious ladies! The cake above is from this dinner...I loved how they took the meaning of Jayden's name and used it this way! We are indeed thankful!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then, quite unexpectedly, I walked into my Holding On To Hope meeting at church to discover that they were throwing a surprise shower for me and two other ladies in the group! This is a group of women who have suffered infertility, miscarriage, and/or child loss and we get together every other week to discuss a book related to what we are going through and to share with each other in a way only those who have walked the road we're walking can understand. God has done some pretty amazing things in this group...just about everyone who has stayed in the group has ended up with a child - either through adoption, birth, and/or fostering! One of the ladies that shared the shower with me came to our group when she found out her son that she was pregnant with at the time would not live outside her womb. We were able to support her through this and now she is pregnant with a precious little girl due in the fall. Going in to the meeting, I knew there was going to be a shower...but I thought it was just for this lady! I was very surprised to find out it was also for me! The other shower honoree recently gave birth to a sweet little princess </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a couple of months ago after dealing with secondary infertility. I am just so amazed by this group of amazing women that I now have the honor and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">privileged</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to call my friends! We have become as close as family...and yet, except for this group and the common thorn that brought us to it, I might have missed out on getting to know many of them! I am so thankful for each and every one of them!</span></div>
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A couple of weeks ago, my dear friends Rhonda and Jen threw a great baby shower for me! Several of my friends from church and homeschool groups I'm involved in came out to celebrate Baby Jayden! </div>
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I ALMOST wore my Choose Life adoption fundraiser shirt to the shower...but opted for a nice sweater instead (I must admit, it was a totally vain decision...I look better in a sweater than t-shirts and I knew photos would be taken of me!). I kinda regretted my decision not to wear it when I saw the hosts of my shower sporting their own!!! But, then I felt better when my friend Judy showed up in hers...and all three of the shirt colors were represented at the shower! ;)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: left;">Not only was it a great shower...but it was a great afternoon of visiting with some very precious friends...some of whom I don't get to spend nearly as much time with as I would like! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And, of course, there were some precious baby gifts to unwrap! Lots cute little outfits and lots of the everyday stuff we will need when he gets here! I can NOT wait to use each and every one of them with Jayden! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I got a HUGE surprise when I opened the gifts in the next two pictures...they were secretly sent by my very dear friend Sherry in Alabama to my friend Lynda (who lives here) so that I could open them at the shower! I could not believe it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another special gift came from my friend Angelica, who made the basket below! If you need a gift basket of any kind for any reason, I highly recommend her! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another special part of the shower came as I read the precious note written by my friend Stacy's sweet daughter Zoe! Stacy said she was getting ready for the shower and realized she needed a card for their gift, so she asked Zoe to put something together for her while she got ready. To read what this sweet girl with special needs wrote was both humbling and some of the most precious words I've ever read! That girl is a treasure indeed! :)</span></div>
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I know you are dying to know what the note said...so here it is:<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Congratulations!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">This baby is going to love its new parents and</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Entering your guy's life!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">It's going to be so grateful to have</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">A great Mommy and Daddy and Big</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Brother who will adore him when he's here</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">What a blessing to its life you guys will be.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Psalm 127:3</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Love, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Stacy and kids</span></div>
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Above is a group picture of those precious ladies who took time out of their busy Sunday afternoon to spend a few hours with me in honor of one of the greatest blessings God has provided! I am so thankful for each and every one of these women! I would adopt them all as sisters if I could! I am so blessed to have so many great friends! :)<br />
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Kirstin and Kasia are two of my fellow homeschool moms and we were all in the same Classical Conversations community last year. Kasia's daughters also do gymnastics with Christopher on Monday afternoons. I met Kirstin when her daughter Kyla was in Kindergarten with Christopher. Christopher loves playing with ALL her children...but has formed a special bond with her son (who is a year younger)...and Dominic is STILL praying that Christopher gets his sister...so maybe there's another Jansen child yet to come! ;)<br />
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My friend Lynda (who secretly brought Sherry's gift to the shower...girl can keep a secret! I had NO idea!!!), me, my friend Stacy (whose daughter wrote the sweet note), and my friend Judy! Love these women! =)<br />
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At the end of the shower, a few of us sat around and had some girl talk! I enjoyed that precious time every bit as much as the shower! I love having girl time!!! Thanks to my friend Rhonda, who opened her home and was such a gracious host for my shower and the girl time that came afterwards! :)<br />
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So...now that the showers are done, the car seat and stroller (thanks to Grandma Jansen for the gift card that made those possible!) are put together and ready to go (among other necessities), as well as the high chair that Uncle Bob & Aunt Betsy sent from Ohio...we are ready to go!!! Provided the anonymous couple that pledged to give us $15,000 toward our adoption sends in their last $3,000, ALL of the funding is DONE!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!<br />
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Even though Jayden's due date is June 12th, the doctors have scheduled a C-section for June 14th (not sure why they are scheduling it AFTER the due date...but it is what it is!). So, unless Jayden decides to start making his wishes to be born sooner known before then, that's when he will be born. That's TWO WHOLE WEEKS AWAY!!!!...and even though the last several months since we found out about him have flown, the last two seem like an eternity away! I am so VERY READY to hold that little boy in my arms, count his fingers and toes, give him some "neck sugar" (as my aunt calls it), and just love on him! Please pray for us during this time as we make plans to travel up for the birth (most importantly, that if she does go into labor early, that we are able to make it there in time!). The doctors told the birth mom she could only have ONE person in the delivery room for the birth...and out of all the people she COULD have picked, she picked ME!!!! WOW!!!!!! I had the blessing of being in the room when Christopher was born and I will also have that blessing when Jayden is born! I can't wait!!!<br />
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Pray also for the birth mom during her last two weeks with Jayden. Pray for peace, for health, and for comfort. She's had some back problems, which is why they are doing the C-section. Pray for healing for her back. Pray for her to prepare for life without him and pray for blessings on her! I am so blessed to know her! This woman has more love and courage in her than I may ever know! There is no doubt in my mind that she loves Christopher and Jayden with all her heart...and it is because of that love for them that she is making the hard choice to place them for adoption with us! She has not made this choice lightly and she has not once wavered in her choice...and for that, I have the utmost respect for her! Please, whatever you do, do not judge her for the choices she's made...because for whatever mistakes she may have made (and we have ALL made mistakes in our lives), two of the choices she has made have blessed me more than I could EVER describe with mere words!<br />
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I also ask you to pray for Christopher as he prepares to be a big brother and pray for us as we prepare to be the parents of TWO boys! Pray for wisdom in some decisions we will make around the time of Jayden's birth. Pray for blessings, wisdom, and mercy for all involved in this process. But most importantly, pray that this will all bring glory to God! Without Him, there would be no Jayden! He has indeed moved a mighty big mountain to bring this little boy into our family! Thanks to each and every one of you who have allowed Him to use you in blessing us throughout this process!!! We are blessed indeed!!! :)Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-83300698656686103622012-05-07T11:30:00.002-04:002012-05-07T11:37:49.243-04:00Long Time, No Blog! ;)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been awhile since I've posted anything...mostly because I didn't have a computer to blog on! I came home from Classical Conversations (a homeschool group) back in late March to find that my computer was dead (or at least in a severe coma). My hubby originally thought it was the power supply, which would have been a pretty easy fix...but after buying one and bringing it home, we discovered that wasn't the problem after all. The computer turned on long enough for the motherboard to start smoking! So...we bought a new motherboard, only to discover the processor wasn't working either. After waiting several weeks for a processor to come in, my hubby put the computer back together...but the operating system wouldn't boot because the motherboard wasn't an HP motherboard! OH MY!<br />
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So...David calls HP and talks with their equivalent of "Peggy" (from the Discover Card commercials). After quite some discussion on the phone, David is transferred to Tori (an actually helpful HP Customer Service Rep) and discovers that my computer is still under warranty (which we never suspected, given that the computer is about 2 years old) and if it could be returned to it's original non-working state, they could repair it for free. So...David took out the new motherboard/processor, re-installed the old, non-working motherboard/processor and waited for HP to send us a box to ship the computer to them. The good news in all this is that somewhere along the line, David mentioned that I use my computer for my Avon business...so because it was a business computer, they upgraded the shipping to Express (for free!)!! So, box arrived, we packed it up and shipped it off, and it came back in full working order! WOO HOO!!! The day after it arrived, Tori called to see if it was working and if there were any further problems. From all that she said they replaced, it sounds like I've pretty much got a new computer! :)<br />
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So...that explains why I haven't been blogging lately. Not for a lack of events...just because it's very hard to blog without a computer! LOL! So...without further ado, let me catch you up on some of the other life events that have been going on! :)<br />
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The first big event was that on the last day of our Classical Conversations homeschool group, we had to say a farewell to our friends, the Sotos. Christopher and Emily were in PK4 together and have been the best of friends ever since. I met Emily's mom, my sweet friend Maureen, on the playground one day after school the year our kids were in PK4. We have been through many ups and downs together...and it was heartbreaking to let them go, even though we know God has great plans for them where He has called them! Christopher and I both were in tears on the way home from the park that day! But we are looking forward to many visits with them...both here and there! :)<br />
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In my last blog post (which I did on a borrowed computer), I told you about a very special event that was taking place in Christopher's life...his Baptism! It may have taken him a year, but he finally overcame his fear of the water! We never wanted to push him into something he wasn't ready to do, so even though his profession of faith had been made a year earlier, we waited on him to be ready to take the next step. All on his own, he announced that he was finally ready! We chose Easter weekend for his baptism because baptism is a picture of what Easter is all about!</div>
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On Easter morning, we have a tradition at our house that the "Easter Bunny" sends Christopher on a scavenger hunt to find his basket. This year, the clues took Christopher to the kitchen, Jayden's nursery, the game closet, his playroom, and finally to Daddy's closet to find his basket. At each clue, there was a candy-filled carrot. We started this tradition about 3 years ago, when Christopher first learned to read. Christopher loved it so much that it quickly became a tradition! I can't wait until Jayden is old enough to read his own clues...but I'm not rushing! I know how fast that time can fly!<br />
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Later that day, we went to Grandma Jansen's house for Easter dinner with Grandma and Uncle Chuck. Christopher brought along his Uno cards, so after dinner, we enjoyed a few games of Uno. I have always enjoyed playing board games and card games...and it looks like Christopher is following in my footsteps! :)</div>
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Because of Jayden, I have been able to re-join the MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) group at my church. I have really enjoyed being a part of the group and have been blessed so much. I even had the opportunity to brag on God a bit as I gave my adoption testimony one week. Our MOPS group had an Easter Egg hunt just before Easter and Christopher had a blast! I'm not quite sure, though, which he enjoyed more..."hiding" eggs for the little ones (which pretty much constituted of tossing them on the ground for easy hunting by the littlest of egg hunters), hunting eggs with his own age group, or pushing the toy car around with his buddy John Robert's little sister (Sarah Kate) inside after the hunts were all done! He is going to make an awesome big brother! He loves taking care of the little ones and helping them have fun, too!</div>
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Just after Easter, our Classical Conversations group had their End of the Year Program. As a group, they said John 1:1-7 in both English and Latin. In the past year, we have learned many great facts about American history, some English and Latin grammar, math facts, American geography (including all 50 states and capitols), and did some great science experiments! Classical Conversations is a great way for kids to learn...at the elementary level, most of it is learned through memorization of songs and chants that they will be able to fall back on when they are older. I think the best way it was explained to me is by relating it to the Alphabet Song we teach to toddlers. They may have no clue what those letters are or that they are used to make words, let alone be able to read...but later in life when they are trying to put those words in alphabetical order, they fall back on that catchy Alphabet Song to help them figure it out! :) </div>
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Of course, school is still in session at the Jansen Christian Academy! And sometimes, Daddy gets to be a part of the homeschooling fun! These pictures were taken the day we had our home study completed. Daddy took the morning off and while we waited for the adoption agency director to come down to do the home study (usually this part of the process is done before you are matched with a birth family, but NOTHING has been normal about this adoption!), Christopher showed off to Daddy how well he is doing in school. The board behind David is our daily schedule. At the bottom of the schedule each day, I put a challenge for Christopher to finish his school work by a certain time (the time varies slightly...and I put a clock face showing the ending time...this serves not only as a visual for him, but also helps develop his time-telling skills). At the very bottom is a reward Christopher can earn by beating the clock! On this particular day, the reward was getting to play a game with Daddy (the board says Mommy...but since Daddy was still home, he and Christopher played a few challenging games of Battleship - their favorite!)! <br />
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In case you are wondering, our home study went by without a hitch! We had a great visit with the agency director. I think my favorite part was when he told me he wasn't even going to ask us about our parenting skills because we are obviously doing a great job with Christopher! As any parent knows, some days are quite challenging...so it's always good to hear compliments like these! :)<br />
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Towards the end of April, we got to see our cousin Ben in his school's production of The King and I. Ben played the part of the interpreter and an angel. It was a great production...one worthy of Broadway (at least in my opinion)! As I look at the picture above, I realize Christopher is three years older than Ben was when I moved here...and now Ben is graduating from high school this year! Time really does fly! It seems like just yesterday that Ben was in elementary school! And to think...when Jayden is Christopher's age, Christopher will be old enough to drive! Scary!!! <br />
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Last weekend, my brother, his wife, her mom, and my nephews held a yard sale for us in Alabama to benefit our adoption. They raised $311 for our adoption...and in the process of collecting donations for the yard sale, one of their friends offered to do a Zumbathon for us! The Zumbathon will be held at their church in Santuck, Alabama (near Montgomery) this Friday (May 11th). If you live in or near that area and would like more information about the Zumbathon, let me know. The cost is only $10 per adult and $5 per child...and 100% of the profits go toward our adoption! There are also lots of door prizes, too! =)<br />
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Speaking of our adoption, we are down to the final weeks..just about 5 weeks to the due date! We are now at the stage where I will not go anywhere that I couldn't easily get to the delivery room if Jayden decides to come early! I am so excited that I get to welcome him into the world just like I welcomed his big brother into the world eight years ago! Please continue to pray for us and for this adoption. Pray also for the birth mother. I can only imagine how she must be feeling as her time with Jayden is drawing to a close...and yet, she has never once waivered in her decision to place him in our home...just as she never waivered in her decision to place his big brother with us. For that, I have the upmost respect for her! She has great love for these boys...so much so, that she chooses to give them the best she can by placing them for adoption! And we are so blessed because of her loving decision! :)<br />
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</div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-64691640417259067832012-04-04T11:03:00.002-04:002012-04-04T11:49:31.981-04:00Let the Little Children Come to me...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vjr5pacRB_k/T3xkS65HocI/AAAAAAAAAyc/jHLG9XOzIlo/s1600/Let%2Bthe%2Blittle%2Bchildren.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 200px; height: 176px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727563102317683138" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vjr5pacRB_k/T3xkS65HocI/AAAAAAAAAyc/jHLG9XOzIlo/s400/Let%2Bthe%2Blittle%2Bchildren.jpg" /></a><br />One year ago today, Christopher made one of the most important decisions of his life...he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. This weekend, he will give testimony to that decision by being baptized at our church.<br /><br />Over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a sinless life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He then gave his life on a cross as payment for our sins. He died on that cross and was buried...but the good news of Easter is that He didn't stay burried...He arose 3 days later and is in Heaven preparing a place for all who will accept His free gift of salvation.<br /><br />In this day and age, we hear a lot about FREE gifts (but wait...there's more! type of advertising, for example)...and most of them aren't worth much...but the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers to EVERYONE is priceless! By simply trusting in Him and accepting His death, burial, & resurrection as payment for your sins, you will be able to spend eternity in Heaven.<br /><br />Christopher settled this a year ago today. The baptism part is not what saves him. It is just a testimony to others of what he believes. Usually, someone who accepts Christ as their savior is baptised soon after their salvation. However, Christopher had a fear of water...especially water too deep for him to touch bottom. So, we didn't push the issue. He went through the First Steps classes at church last year to make sure he understood the decision he was making (and he did)...so it was just a matter of waiting for him to be ready.<br /><br />This past summer, Christopher finally conqured his fear of the water (mostly) and got to the point where he would swim with his face in the water (a HUGE accomplishment for him)! Then on his own a few weeks ago, Christopher announced that he was ready! So, we talked with Pastor Larry (our Children's pastor at church) and told him Christopher was ready. He was very excited about that!<br /><br />David decided he would like for Christopher to be baptized on Easter weekend because it represents what Christ did for us and is the reason we celebrate Easter. So, Christopher will be baptized on Saturday night (our church has a service on Saturday night and two on Sunday morning to accomodate the number of people who attend - but the sermon is the same at all 3 services, so you can pick the one that is best for your family). <br /><br />We are all very excited and welcome you to join us if you would like! I wish more family members could join us for this important event...it looks like it will just be David's mom and brother who live here that will be able to join us (and we are thankful they will be there!)...but I understand the distance issue and our church does stream the services on their website, so out of town family can view the service online once it is on the website. :) Maybe more family members can come when we have Jayden's baby dedication and we can have a huge celebration to celebrate both brothers then! :)Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-66143012503261743442012-03-27T10:38:00.010-04:002012-03-27T17:41:48.576-04:00BBQ Dinner Fundraiser/Gender Reveal Party<div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aXHYYa2_-Vk/T3Hh7twfYQI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/j4IQvkpPkYw/s1600/Getting%2Bready.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 299px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724605017376121090" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aXHYYa2_-Vk/T3Hh7twfYQI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/j4IQvkpPkYw/s400/Getting%2Bready.jpg" /></a>We had a GREAT event last night! If you were there, you know how AMAZING the food was! If you weren't, you missed out on some of the best BBQ I have EVER put in my mouth...and I grew up in Alabama - so I KNOW good BBQ when I taste it! ;) The precious people behind the counter in the picture above are the reason we were able to have this event...and I'm so thankful for them - not only for doing this for us, but also for their love, prayers, and friendship!<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25bUndymRpQ/T3Hh7N5BxDI/AAAAAAAAAyE/n4gaUuDPbig/s1600/Christopher%2Btaste-testing%2Bbrownie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724605008821994546" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25bUndymRpQ/T3Hh7N5BxDI/AAAAAAAAAyE/n4gaUuDPbig/s400/Christopher%2Btaste-testing%2Bbrownie.jpg" /></a>Christopher got to taste-test one of the brownies before dinner...he totally approved! And with good reason...they were just as yummy as the rest of the dinner! :) We had BBQ sandwiches with your choice of cole slaw, potato salad, & baked beans for the adults and hot dogs with chips for the kids...dessert for everyone was either a brownie (with or without nuts) or rice crispie treat (pink or blue)! They went all-out for us and we are SO blessed!!! :)<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DV5wFcMTLUI/T3Hh65cm24I/AAAAAAAAAx0/l2EIJkVo9i8/s1600/Cast%2Byour%2Bvote%2521.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724605003334081410" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DV5wFcMTLUI/T3Hh65cm24I/AAAAAAAAAx0/l2EIJkVo9i8/s400/Cast%2Byour%2Bvote%2521.jpg" /></a>For some added fun, we had Girl/Boy buckets that people could donate a little extra if they wanted to guess girl or boy (or both, as some did). According to the tally from the jars just before the big reveal...we were 8 to 7 for a girl! ;)<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sdqxMjrdzyc/T3Hh6WRp-rI/AAAAAAAAAxs/jSdMao6iIB4/s1600/Getting%2Bfood.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 299px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724604993892907698" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sdqxMjrdzyc/T3Hh6WRp-rI/AAAAAAAAAxs/jSdMao6iIB4/s400/Getting%2Bfood.jpg" /></a>We also have several Silent Auction items that are still up for bid...if you are on Facebook, check them all out on my Facebook page (link: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3561084505728.165627.1231284826&type=1">http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3561084505728.165627.1231284826&type=1</a>).<br /><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 299px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724604763877851666" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-68WT0jjQOVo/T3Hhs9ZywhI/AAAAAAAAAxc/6CKF4wRZhLI/s400/Friends.jpg" />We had lots of friends who came out to support us...these pictures were taken at the beginning of our event, so not everyone is represented...but we are extremely thankful for each and every one who came! :)<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZaUlPzXkp8A/T3HhsfuNHNI/AAAAAAAAAxU/cWt0GFU_dAk/s1600/Friends.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 299px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724604755910401234" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZaUlPzXkp8A/T3HhsfuNHNI/AAAAAAAAAxU/cWt0GFU_dAk/s400/Friends.jpg" /></a>Not surprisingly, we had a BIG rush of people come in right around 6:30...which was our scheduled time for the reveal! Those who came early were chomping at the bit as I started getting minute-by-minute updates of how close we were getting to that time! Once we got the 6:30 rush in the door, we were ready for the BIG REVEAL!!! :)<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uOp-y4w1EHg/T3Hhr62U6XI/AAAAAAAAAxI/eLz6JXTGsdM/s1600/Getting%2Bready%2Bto%2Bopen%2Bbox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724604746012354930" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uOp-y4w1EHg/T3Hhr62U6XI/AAAAAAAAAxI/eLz6JXTGsdM/s400/Getting%2Bready%2Bto%2Bopen%2Bbox.jpg" /></a>David gave a great speech before Christopher opened the box, thanking everyone for their help and giving an update on the birth mom and how God is working in her life, too! We found out when we went for the ultrasound that Christopher's older half-sister (who was nine when he was born & had been asking questions about God at the time) is a Christian who only listens to Christian music and only hangs out with her Christian friends & is having an influence on the birth mom, as well. Because she had been asking questions about God, we gave her a Bible when Christopher was born, so we were excited to hear the fruits of this gift. :)<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3NKvHwuXXVk/T3HhrIwr9dI/AAAAAAAAAw8/Xcy1LLh3sV0/s1600/The%2Breveal%2521.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724604732566926802" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3NKvHwuXXVk/T3HhrIwr9dI/AAAAAAAAAw8/Xcy1LLh3sV0/s400/The%2Breveal%2521.jpg" /></a>Finally, the moment came and Christopher opened the box revealing a "Baby Boy" balloon! :)<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5oyAMow-oGw/T3Hhq8eNDcI/AAAAAAAAAww/2sn5yV_AQ5U/s1600/It%2527s%2Ba%2BBOY%2521.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724604729268178370" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5oyAMow-oGw/T3Hhq8eNDcI/AAAAAAAAAww/2sn5yV_AQ5U/s400/It%2527s%2Ba%2BBOY%2521.jpg" /></a>Christopher may look a little surprised in these pictures...but he actually helped pick out the balloon! The morning of the event, the first two words out of Christopher's mouth when he woke up were, "TELL. MEEEE!!!" ;) So, we went ahead and told him he was having a brother. His response was, "NOT a sister????" But, it didn't take him long to warm up to the idea of a brother! He's already planning what he's going to teach his little brother! :)</div><div> </div><div><p>We are about 98% set on a name for Christopher's little brother. We had been tossing around Jayden, Matthew, and David as potential names (with David being a middle name, so as not to confuse him with his Daddy). Jayden means "The Lord has heard" - which is certainly appropriate because God has heard the prayers of so many who have prayed for this baby! Matthew means "Gift from God" - which he certainly is! David means "Dearly Loved" - and this little boy certainly is loved by so many already! So...we've decided to give him all 3 names...which is appropriate since Christopher also has 3 names other than his last name! So, Christopher's little brother will (most likely) be Jayden Matthew David Jansen & we'll call him Jayden (or JJ for short). :)</div><div> </div><div><p>For those of you wondering how we did at the fundraiser, we raised $1,172 (not counting the silent auction, which is still going on)! :) So...we just need $2,172 to have everything we need for the adoption to be financially complete and we have until little Jayden is born to raise that money. :)<br /></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-35650623643918022342012-03-15T16:08:00.005-04:002012-03-15T16:54:54.273-04:00It's a...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8GDbLjXw9ug/T2JOedZhPXI/AAAAAAAAAwk/a0mHbqHT_3k/s1600/Ultrasound%2B%25232%2Bprofile.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8GDbLjXw9ug/T2JOedZhPXI/AAAAAAAAAwk/a0mHbqHT_3k/s400/Ultrasound%2B%25232%2Bprofile.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720220761908657522" /></a><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; "><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><span ><b><span>B</span></b><span><span><span><b><span>A</span></b></span></span></span><span><span><b><span>B</span><span>Y</span><span>!</span><span>!</span></b></span></span></span><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large; "><span>!</span><span>!</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; "><b style="font-size: x-large; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span><br /></span></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>Yes, I know...that's not what you were hoping I would say...but it is what it is! ;) I have had MANY people try to crack me and discover the gender...several sure they know what our baby is...some of them right, others not. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>I think our best decision was to not tell Christopher...because when they can't get it out of me, their next question is, "Does Christopher know?" I am very relieved to say that he doesn't because then I don't have to worry about HIM facing the same questioning. ;)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>We were planning to tell him...but the day before the ultrasound, I asked Christopher if he could keep a secret if we told him. His response was, "Sure! I can keep a secret...but I can tell my friends, right?" LOL! That's when we knew telling him the gender before our big reveal wouldn't be such a good idea!</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>That's not to say he hasn't tried! He, right along with EVERYONE ELSE, has been trying to catch clues in our conversations about the baby to discover the gender. If we make any reference to a girl, he asks..."So, it's a sister?" and if we make any reference to a boy, he asks, "So, it's a brother?" When we won't budge, it's usually followed by, "C'mon...you can tell me! Just whisper it in my ear!" ;)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>Today, I was simultaneously fielding questions from Christopher and a friend. Christopher overheard me chuckling at a text message I was getting from a friend who was trying to get it out of me. My friend Kelly was trying to figure it out by asking if we had names picked out...so I told her we have a few, but nothing definite yet...so she tries a different way by asking, "Going with something like Conner or Shelly?" After a few more similar tries, she said, "Why don't you give me your top five names and I'll help decide." So...I gave her our potential names...for a girl, Kristina Kathryn or Kathryn Grace and for a boy, Matthew David or Caleb Matthew (by the way, this is by no means an exhaustive list). She told me I was a tough nut to crack...it was at this point Christopher said I should tell her to give up because I wouldn't even tell him! LOL!</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>The best part was when Kelly sent me a picture showing me she's put the date of the BBQ Dinner/Fundraiser in her calendar so she can text me then to find out! LOVE IT!!!</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>So...if you are in town and want to be among the first to know, come to our <a href="http://jansenjunction.blogspot.com/2012/03/smoked-bbq-dinneradoption-fundraiser.html">BBQ Dinner/Fundraiser</a> on March 26th (follow the link for more details). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span><br /></span></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0J3f2IZyfP0/T2JOdoCvVoI/AAAAAAAAAwY/3MyQu-yHFKY/s1600/Ultrasound%2B%25232%2Bface.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0J3f2IZyfP0/T2JOdoCvVoI/AAAAAAAAAwY/3MyQu-yHFKY/s400/Ultrasound%2B%25232%2Bface.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720220747586033282" /></a><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; "><span>Here's Lookin' At You, Kid! ;)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span>P.S. The pictures in this post are from our last ultrasound...but they do NOT show any identifying info on the gender! Sorry! ;)</span></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-39778668054263080052012-03-09T07:49:00.002-05:002012-03-09T08:07:53.546-05:00Smoked BBQ Dinner/Adoption Fundraiser & Celebration!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rUDFP7HmCuI/T1n8cNtVGvI/AAAAAAAAAwM/XtC1PJ4y1Dk/s1600/BBQ%2BDinner%2BFlyer%2B-%2BFacebook.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 262px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rUDFP7HmCuI/T1n8cNtVGvI/AAAAAAAAAwM/XtC1PJ4y1Dk/s400/BBQ%2BDinner%2BFlyer%2B-%2BFacebook.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717878763569879794" /></a>We finally found our location! The church I referenced in my <a href="http://www.jansenjunction.blogspot.com/2012/03/location-location-location.html">previous</a> post agreed to let us have our BBQ Dinner/Adoption Fundraiser at their church! We are so thankful!!! :)<div><br /></div><div>As you can see above, our BBQ Dinner will be on Monday, March 26th from 5-8pm at Cypress Woods Presbyterian Church. If you need directions, just let us know! :) </div><div><br /></div><div>We will have a Silent Auction, like we did at our Spaghetti Dinner...so if you know of anyone who has something to donate for this silent auction, please let us know and/or pass along our email address to them! We will be posting pictures of the items before the fundraiser...so we need to get the items before that if possible. :) We also need to know the approximate value of the items being donated so that we can put that on the bid sheets. If the person donating an item for the silent auction has a business card, we would be happy to put some out by the auction item(s) - which could result in future business! :)</div><div><br /></div><div>Though we don't yet know if we are having a girl or boy...if the baby cooperates at the ultrasound, we will know by the dinner and are planning a great reveal! I saw online somewhere that a family did this at their baby shower. The idea is to put either pink or blue balloons (depending on gender) in a box and seal the box before the party. This couple also painted the box with chalkboard paint so that guests could make their prediction before the box was opened. When the box is opened, the color of the balloons identify the gender of the baby (pink for girl, blue for boy). It sounded like a fun idea...so we are going to do that at our fundraiser! After our fundraiser is over, we will reveal the gender on here for those of you who are unable to attend. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>We only have $4, 384 left to raise to complete this adoption...so we are hoping that by the time this fundraiser is over, we will have all we need financially to make this adoption happen! We put complete trust in God to move this mountain...we've seen Him at work already and look forward to seeing how He will finish! :)</div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-38567826552721219832012-03-01T16:58:00.004-05:002012-03-01T17:21:21.242-05:00Location, Location, Location!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9_gWSQWth4A/T0_yq11A24I/AAAAAAAAAwA/-ZEPaHGx-co/s1600/Location%252C%2BLocation%252C%2BLocation.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 260px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9_gWSQWth4A/T0_yq11A24I/AAAAAAAAAwA/-ZEPaHGx-co/s400/Location%252C%2BLocation%252C%2BLocation.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715053269974309762" /></a><br /><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">Who knew finding a location for an event could be so hard? Way back when we had our Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, we has some precious friends offer to do a BBQ Dinner Fundraiser for us. My only job was finding a location to host it...easy enough, right? That's what I thought, too! But...I soon found out that it wasn't quite so easy. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; ">I won't go into all the pitfalls of responses I received from my attempts at finding a location...there's just no need and I'd rather ask for your prayers that our potential location works out! :) </span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; ">The pastor of a local church is in our Classical Conversations Homeschool Community (and we volunteered together in Good News Club at Big Cypress Elementary last school year). He asked me yesterday how things were coming along with our adoption. I mentioned in our conversation that we were still trying to find a location for our BBQ Dinner/Fundraiser. He asked how many I thought might attend. Judging by our spaghetti dinner, I gave him an estimate & thought that was the end of the conversation...but he came back later and said he thought his church might be able to help us out! He emailed me a form for use of the church and I filled it out & emailed it back to him. Hopefully we will hear soon if the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">deacons</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "> approve our request...and if they do, then I'll be announcing all the details and looking for silent auction items! :)</span><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">If this works out, we are looking at doing the dinner on Monday, March 19th or Tuesday, March 20th...so save those dates, </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">please pray God provides the perfect place (either this church or another location) and stay tuned for more details! :) </span></div></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-29321324606398173732012-02-07T11:54:00.003-05:002012-02-11T13:27:46.298-05:00No News Is...Well, No News<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bm0BDPFBiWE/TzFXsKjt70I/AAAAAAAAAvo/JqiYpZmiJrA/s1600/IMG_1003.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bm0BDPFBiWE/TzFXsKjt70I/AAAAAAAAAvo/JqiYpZmiJrA/s400/IMG_1003.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5706438619115155266" /></a>We are pretty much in the stage of the adoption where nothing really exciting is happening yet. We did have our 2nd yard sale and we raised almost another $400 toward our adoption fund. If you've checked out my Facebook page at all, you know we had quite the spread of items to offer...even toward the end - not because people weren't buying (they were!) but just because of the vast amount of items that were donated for our cause! Many left over items went to Helps Outreach, which gives items to those in need for free, as well as sharing the gospel and offering them the free gift of Salvation. I pray that the items we donated will be used to bless those less fortunate than us and will bring many into a saving knowledge of God's grace!<div><br /></div><div>Other than that, there's really not much news to report. We are still (yes, STILL) waiting on the ultrasound to find out the gender of our baby. The birth mom has an exam scheduled for February 24th, and according to the agency, they will discuss when to have the ultrasound at that visit. This means that it will probably be March or later before we find out girl or boy. Not that it matters to us which one, but I would just like to be able to call the baby by name or a single pronoun. Names like "the baby," "Christopher's Sibling," "brother or sister," and the joint pronoun "he or she" or "he/she" is getting a bit tiresome. It has even crossed my mind to find an independent ultrasound place and see if I could take her there to find out (not sure how we would pay for it, but it did cross my mind!)! I took my frustration to God this morning in my quiet time - doing some serious complaining about it, actually - then God gently reminded me that His timing is not mine...and His is better (perfect, actually!). He reminded me of times in the past when I've been anxious and impatient because something wasn't happening in MY timing...and times when I later understood WHY it was best to be delayed. One such time is the time I was taking a dinner to a friend and her family after her husband had surgery. After getting the meal in the car and ready to head out, I realized I'd left an item in my kitchen that needed to go with the meal. I had to go back in the house for it and was feeling frustrated at the delay. However, it only took as long as a drive to the end of my street to realize the reason. A car came flying around the corner and would have surely smashed into me, perhaps ending my life, if I'd been at the corner just a few minutes earlier. In the time it took me to go back inside to retrieve the item, I had missed certain disaster! I was shaken up (as was the meal)...but I was alive and the meal made it to its destination! :)</div><div><br /></div><div>So...even though I'm frustrated by the delay in finding out the gender of our baby, I can be thankful that our baby is still growing healthy in the birth mother's womb and that God still has us all in the palm of His hand. I'm sure there's a reason for the delay...whether that be for the baby's sake, for my sake, for the birth mother's sake...or simply another lesson in the course of patience that I seem to be unable to graduate from! :) So...I will wait...and I'll try not to roll my eyes and sigh in exasperation when well-meaning friends and family ask if we've found out yet. For those of you who have already witnessed the rolling eyes and sighs of frustration from me, please forgive me. I hope you understand my frustration isn't with you, but rather frustration of the unknown and my inability to answer your question! :) </div><div><br /></div><div>So many times I think, "If I were pregnant with this baby..." and finish the sentence with whatever thing I wish our birth mom would do to make my life a little bit easier - but I'm NOT the one pregnant...what I AM is the one she chose to be the Mommy to not one, but TWO of her children...and for that, I need to just be thankful and focus on how blessed I am rather than what I wish would be different. </div><div><br /></div><div>And I am blessed...VERY blessed! I have a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally. I have a precious son who has been a joy and a blessing from the very beginning. Our family has been chosen (though we never sought it out) to raise his sibling. I have friends and family who have supported us in ways I never imagined they would! I am blessed in deed! :)</div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-57993613852039188202012-01-27T12:13:00.000-05:002012-01-27T12:17:47.118-05:00Answered Prayer!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RqaU_5Se4n4/TyIhnNj8rKI/AAAAAAAAAvc/gbNykJJX8rk/s1600/390859_297023960341741_204929142884557_879492_377087965_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RqaU_5Se4n4/TyIhnNj8rKI/AAAAAAAAAvc/gbNykJJX8rk/s400/390859_297023960341741_204929142884557_879492_377087965_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702157035743521954" /></a><div>It was exactly three weeks ago today that I got a phone call from Kirk (adoption agency director) asking for another $5,000 by the end of this month. At that time, we had just under $1,000 in the adoption fund and no idea how God was going to provide the rest, but we trusted Him completely to make it happen! And make it happen He did...in ways that are greater than anything we could have imagined!<div><br /></div><div>Little by little, we've seen our adoption fund grow - with T-shirt sales, a spaghetti dinner/silent auction, the Money Tree Baby Shower, our yard sale, people handing us money to help, and David's bonus coming in (which put us just over the top of what we needed for our payment this month)...but little did we know what an amazing gift God still had in store for us! </div><div><br /></div><div>Last night, I went to my Holding on to HOPE meeting. This is a meeting for women who have/are experiencing infertility, miscarriage, and/or child loss. This group was started in our church about three years ago, with just a handful of members. Over the years, we've seen people come and go...and watched many fulfill their HOPE of having a child (whether it be their first child, or additional children)...and seeing God's hand in each and every one! It's been amazing!</div><div><br /></div><div>I thought last night's meeting was going to be like any other meeting...but boy, was I wrong! The leader of our group, Sue, was busting at the seams to share some good news with us! She had called the day before to ask if I was coming & said she had a question she needed to ask, but wanted to ask me in person. It was just her way of making sure I'd be there so she could see my reaction when she told me the news! :)</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, Sue knows a couple who have helped other couples with adopting their first child. Usually, this couple only helps childless couples adopt, but they were touched by our story and felt led to help us! This couple (who will remain anonymous to us) is sending payment to Family Creations on our behalf in the amount of $15,000!!!! WOW WE WOW WOW!!! PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>I can not even begin to tell you what an amazing blessing that is for us and what a huge weight it has lifted off our shoulders! When we started this whole adventure, we were looking at a HUGE mountain called adoption costs! God moved that mountain in amazing ways!!!! He still does miracles!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>This means that in order to complete this adoption (financially, speaking), we only need another $5,000 and we are done! Compared to the $32,750 MOUNTAIN we were looking at in October when we first got the phone call about this baby, that's a mere stone! If God can provide $27,750 (which He has to date), then He is certainly able to provide another $5,000!!! Do we know where that $5,000 is coming from? Not completely...but we trust the One Who has provided so much for us already to provide that, too!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>When I called David from my HOPE meeting, he was crying and thanking God! Not only has God provided for our adoption, but He has also grown our faith by leaps and bounds as we've watched His hand move this mountain and use His people to do so! I am just completely amazed! I mean...you hear of this kind of thing happening to other people, but you never expect it to happen for you! Isn't it just amazing what God can do? I am just in awe!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>When I look back and think about how God has worked all of this out...there's no mistake that this was 100% God...and He will get ALL the glory for this child that He is bringing to our family! This morning, I was thinking about those events and how they unfolded. Let me share a bit with you...</div><div><br /></div><div>Right before we got the phone call from the agency, Christopher and I had a deep conversation in the car about God and how He answers prayer. It started with a song on the radio, but I can't remember which one. We talked about how I wanted to marry a man with brown eyes so my child would have brown eyes, but God said, "No, I've got something better" and He gave me David (who has blue eyes, by the way). Then, I told Christopher how I prayed for God to give me a baby in my tummy & God said, "No, I've got something better" and He gave me Christopher! To this, Christopher replied, "Do I have brown eyes?" Smart boy...and yes, he does! When I told him that, he said, "Cool!" We talked more about how God sometimes answers yes, sometimes no, and sometimes wait! It was a great conversation...but I had no idea that God was already at work on answering Christopher's prayer for siblings and our prayer for more children...and in a way we never even imagined!</div><div><br /></div><div>After we'd gotten the call and things had settled down a bit, we got the first phone call from Kirk asking for some sort of payment. We had about $350 in the adoption fund at that point...not nearly enough. I called David and was in tears. Christopher saw my tears and asked why I was crying. I told him that I was worried that we might not be able to have enough money to bring the baby home. The look on his face totally broke my heart...and I'm pretty sure God spoke through me when I told Christopher that God is bigger than this and if He wants this baby to come home with us, He will make a way. I'm pretty confident that was as much for me as it was for Christopher! And with his child-like faith, Christopher's smile returned to his face and he went away confident that God was going to work it all out!</div><div><br /></div><div>I, on the other hand, needed a little more convincing. When David got home from work that night, we talked about the adoption and wondered if it was really going to happen. At that point, the only one on the planet who knew I was doubting this adoption happening was David. But, God prompted a dear friend to call me out of the blue and tell me that this adoption was going to happen! Talk about a message from God! Only He could have made that happen at that exact moment!</div><div><br /></div><div>And now, with this anonymous couple and so many people who have helped us (whether they knew us or not)...not to mention the countless friends, family, and strangers who have been praying continuously for us...I just can't help but know this baby is being brought to us by God's hand! God is AWESOME and He is STILL in the miracle business!!! We're watching one unfold right before our eyes!!! :)</div><div><br /></div><div>PRAISE GOD!!!!!</div><div><br /></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-33241139290552033262012-01-22T17:26:00.003-05:002012-01-22T18:46:59.711-05:00Adoption Fund Yard Sale<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xvq3hw8Wzjo/TxyNWqISOSI/AAAAAAAAAvE/7XcSZW32xyw/s400/394896_3092390148662_1231284826_3315505_1794666665_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700586648749881634" /><div>Yard sales aren't really my thing. I mean, I like a good deal as much as the next guy/gal...but getting up early to paw through things other people have discarded is not really my cup of tea (mostly the getting up early part!). Not to mention, the awkward moment when you realize you have absolutely no need for any of the items on display and yet feel somewhat obligated to purchase SOMETHING since you made the commitment to walk into their yard so you find the lowest priced item that you think maybe, just maybe, you might put to some sort of use (or at least won't feel too bad about tossing later) just so you don't make the folks hosting the yard sale feel bad about their treasures on display...it's just too much pressure for me! So, I prefer to sleep in, thank you very much! ;)</div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span>Being on the other side of the yard sale, where you have your discarded treasures on display for strangers to show up at oh-dark-thirty to paw through them and have to come up with a price for said treasures that's high enough for negotiating room and yet isn't so high that they don't even bother trying to negotiate, isn't any fun for me, either. Speaking of negotiating...really, REALLY? You want to give me 5 cents for an item that has a $5 price tag? I'm all for dropping the price a bit if that means the difference between the item hanging around or you taking it away, but let's be just a little bit realistic here...how would YOU feel if the tables were turned? And yes, for those of you wondering, that really did happen! ;)</span></span></div><div><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><span>Having said all that, I think you get the point that yard sales aren't really my thing...and yet, if that's what it takes to bring Christopher's sibling home, I'll do it...TWICE, even! :)</span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span>Yesterday was our very first Adoption Fund Yard Sale...hosted at my mother-in-law's house...and it was quite an adventure! :) We had friends all over the area donating items for our yard sale (and we are extremely thankful for that!)...we had quite stash! Lots of GREAT items, too...many of them we would have loved to keep, but for the sake of the adoption, put them out anyway! :) One of Christopher's friends, Jacob, even donated some of his toys that he still enjoyed playing with...he said if he really liked them, then maybe another kid would, too & that would help us raise money to bring Christopher's sibling home! Imagine that kind of selfless, giving attitude coming from a nine-year-old! </span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span>I think that's what has humbled me the most in this whole experience of raising funds for the adoption...the selfless giving of some of Christopher's playmates! Christopher's friend Noah and his sister Mollie happily gave up their weekly Starbucks treat for a couple of weeks so they could apply the amount they would have spent toward our adoption. Noah even offered to contribute some of his own money to help the cause...he said that baby belonged with Christopher and he wanted to help make that happen! WOW!!! It's obvious that these children are being raised by parents who are teaching them great values and to live like Jesus! :)</span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span>Back to the yard sale...we started making trips over to David's mom's house early in the week to drop off portions of what we'd collected. Friday, David took a few hours off work to start setting up in the garage and Christopher and I joined him shortly after SAINTS PE class. We brought in the final load Saturday morning of the sale. David and Christopher went early Saturday morning (a friend of mine likes to call this time of day "the crack of crazy") to Grandma's house (since it take boys less time to get ready in the morning than it does this night-owl-never-gonna-be-a-morning-person chick!)...and I came shortly behind with breakfast in hand! Let me just say...David is an absolute master at organizing things in general...but especially when it comes to a yard sale! Seeing as I'm not the yard-sale-kinda-gal, this was really my first experience at appreciating his yard-sale-organizing-skills at work! I'm sure it has something to do with all the years he did estate sales with his friend...but still, I was amazed! The yard sale was laid out like a store...toy section, clothing section, video section, etc! I wish I'd thought to take a picture...it was certainly picture worthy! :)</span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span><span>Christopher set up a lemonade stand, which also became a bottled water stand, thanks to some bottled water Grandma gave him to add to his supply. ;) Christopher was very excited to be able to contribute toward our adoption with his lemonade/water stand...he's quite the little entrepreneur in the making! He was a little disappointed, however, that not every customer wanted to purchase his lemonade! ;) Oh well...life lesson! :) I still think he is by far the cutest kid I've ever seen behind a lemonade stand! :) Wouldn't you agree?</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BvzR3OOdXHs/TxyNWreeUiI/AAAAAAAAAvM/TLZ7QFSI8Mk/s400/409475_3095113736750_1231284826_3316354_1378588507_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700586649111384610" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>We had a pretty slow start to our morning...but it didn't take long to find out why. One of the customers came in and made a reference to finally making it through border control...and several others made similar comments as they walked up! ;) You see, David's mom lives in a gated community...and most of the time, this is a good thing, especially for her safety. But, the community had recently hired a new security guard company, so they were flexing their muscles a bit and being very strict about the rules. There was apparently a line a mile long at the gate, and the guard was requiring anyone coming to the yard sale to have the complete street address of said yard sale! It was apparently not enough to just know what street it was on...you had to know house number, too! If you did happen to know the full address, you had to produce your driver's license and have your tag number written down before he would allow you access into the community. A few of the more tenacious customers made their way through...one lady said she got through because she was making the guard wait while she looked up the address on her phone from the newspaper ad...he apparently got frustrated enough, he let her through anyway. ;)</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>So, we probably didn't have as many customers as we might have had otherwise...but all in all, we did fairly well. We raised an additional $362 from the yard sale & Christopher's lemonade stand toward our adoption...not as much as we would have hoped, but still a respectable size dent in what we owe.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>Needless to say, we were all tired after the sale...but the work was far from over! Once the yard sale was over, the work of repackaging the items that didn't sale began...and then, of course, the caravan of cars to bring it back to our house for the next sale! We loaded up my car, David's car, and David's mom's car and the three of us drove across town to bring the items back to our home. It was quite a sight to behold! ;) Once we got the three cars unloaded and let David's mom head back home (probably for a nice rest), and then rushed to get cleaned up and ready for church! Whew!!! </span></span></span></span></span></span> :) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>So...yard sale numero uno is behind us... but there's no rest for the weary! In two weeks...on Sunday, February 5th, (yes, Super Bowl Sunday!), we'll be joining our neighborhood in a community-wide yard sale! Hopefully, we'll be able to get rid of the bulk of what was left...as well as a few items that never actually made it to my mother-in-law's house because we simply ran out of time to transport it all! ;)</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>So...we're a little closer to our goal. Thanks to the Money Tree Baby Shower that my friends Sherry & Tonya are hosting, this yard sale, and David's bonus that we'll receive at the end of this month, we will be able to make our $5,000 payment at the end of this month! WOO HOO!!! :) We have absolutely NO IDEA where February's payment will come from, but God does...so, we try not to worry too much about it...He's got this! :)</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-78693213048004849442012-01-20T08:19:00.004-05:002012-01-20T10:39:53.105-05:00Tribute to My Grandmother - a Proverbs 31 Woman<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-luNhkn27Srg/TxlsAMJLkcI/AAAAAAAAAug/zIPL6zA_9KA/s1600/Nana.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-luNhkn27Srg/TxlsAMJLkcI/AAAAAAAAAug/zIPL6zA_9KA/s400/Nana.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699705553929605570" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span ><u><br /></u></span></div><div>Three years ago, my precious grandmother left this earth that had bound her in disease and taken away her ability to do some of the things she loved, and entered the gates of Heaven, where there is no disease or disability...only perfection! Her absence on this earth is still being felt very deeply by those who love her and who were loved by her!</div><div><div><br /></div><div>It was in February 1927 that Mary Kathryn Wells made her entrance into the world. She was the middle of three surviving children in her family. On September 27, 1945, she married Rev. C. Ray Till (my grandfather) and began a family of her own. Her oldest child is my mother. I had the joy and privilege of being her first (and for several years, only) grandchild. Everyone who had the privilege of knowing her could easily see the traits of a Proverbs 31 Woman being displayed in her life.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Proverbs 31:10</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div></div></div><div>My grandfather (who went to Heaven years before her) was a Baptist pastor at the same church for 43 years and she was an excellent help-mate to him. She was always by his side and helped in so many areas of the church. She was his greatest advocate...even to the very end. You see, my grandfather developed Alzheimer's, which took away the sharp mind that he had grown to depend on. I later learned that as his memory began to fade, she became his memory for him. When they were out in public, if a member of the church came up, she would make sure to say the name for him so that he wouldn't be embarrassed. If they were far enough away, she would whisper it to him so that he could be the one to respond first. If there wasn't time for that, she would make sure to call them by name when she greeted them.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. </b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Proverbs 31:11-12</b></i></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>When I was a little girl, she would make clothes for me...oh how I wish I still had some of those items that she so lovingly made for me! But, not only did she make things for me, she also taught me how to make some things myself! She taught me the basics of sewing (how to cut a pattern, thread a needle, etc.), how to crochet, and how to cross stitch. I can not walk through a fabric store or start a crochet or cross stitch project without thinking of her. The amount of time she poured into me will be with me for the rest of my life. It's worth more to me than any earthly treasure that the world considers valuable. When she passed away, the most treasured item of hers that I received was a cross stitch project she had done, which hung in her home until her death. It now hangs in mine.</div><div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Proverbs 31:13</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div>One of the many things I enjoyed doing with my grandmother was to go shopping...it didn't matter what kind of shopping it was. She could even make grocery shopping fun...more like an adventure than a chore! She would see something new in the store and ask me if we should give it a try. Sometimes we'd imagine what it would be like before we even got it home. To this day, I don't mind going grocery shopping because it reminds me of when I used to shop for groceries with her!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Proverbs 31:14</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left; "><div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">But grocery shopping wasn't her only food skill...she could make the best meals! If you have ever been lucky enough to sit at her dining room table, you know exactly what I mean! Every meal was a masterpiece...not always so much in how it looked, but in how it made you feel. To sit at her dining room table was to fill up not only on nutrition, but also on love! She always poured a lot of love into whatever she made. I can remember times during my childhood and teenage years when I would spend the night at her house...sometimes even on a school night. She would not hear of me leaving the house without breakfast (as was my norm then)...and cold cereal or grabbing a PopTart on the way out the door just would not cut it, either. She made a full-blown sit-down breakfast! She wanted to make sure I was ready for whatever I was to face that day. My grandmother was a firm believer that a full belly could fix most problems and give you the strength to face the rest! If a small child was ever cranky in her house, she was sure it was because they were either hungry or tired...never because they were ill mannered! ;)</div><div style="text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: left; "><div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Proverbs 31: 15</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are so many other examples I could give of why she's a Proverbs 31 woman, but I think you get the picture. She was an amazing lady...and I don't think she ever realized just how special she was to each and every one of us. And as much as I tried, there's just no way mere words could explain how amazingly special she was/is! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">She had a way of making each of us feel like we were her favorite, though she never really played favorites. It wasn't until her funeral that I realized that some of the things she and I shared...things I thought were just between us...were also shared between her and other members of the family, too. One of these things is that during the prayer time at church, she would slip her pinky finger over mine and lock them together. It was a simple gesture...but one that filled me with love and made me feel so important. I don't know if I ever told her while she was here on earth how much that meant to me...but I would suspect she knows now.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">She had a way about her that you could talk to her about anything...and even if your opinions were dead wrong or just something she didn't agree with you...she could tell you in such a way that you still felt valued for your opinion, but she still helped you see things from her wise perspective. I hope that I am able to do that with my son and his unborn sibling. What a valuable life lesson that is!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: left; "><div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">She taught so many valuable life lessons...just by the way she lived her life. She was as gentle as the day is long, but she would fiercely defend her convictions or any member of her family when the need was there. When I was with her, I was at peace and I felt like I could do anything. She taught me how to dream! She held on to the belief that "someday" her "ship would come in" and the Publisher's Clearing House van would pull up to her front door and present her with a check. She often talked about what she would do when that happened...and yet, she didn't spend her life waiting for it, either. Because she knew that the most valuable thing on this earth cannot be placed in a bank, but in the heart of those she loved most. And boy, did she bank some great memories in our hearts! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the neatest things for me was seeing the bond she formed with my son that was every bit as strong as the one she and I shared, even though we live over 650 miles away from where she lived. She took the time to get to know him in the only way that was possible at the time...over the phone. When he was only a little over a year old and babbling things that only he could understand, she would take the time to have long conversations with him over the phone...and she made it sound like they were really communicating (I guess in a way, they were)! I would put the cordless phone on speaker and hand him the handset. He would walk around the room as he "talked" to her. I'd hear him say, "Blah, da, blah, blah, ya, da." Then Nana would respond with, "Is that right? Can you tell me more?" And he would! This would go on for quite some time...sometimes for an hour or more. And I just loved hearing him babble on to her and hear her respond to him. It was the sweetest thing. My only regret was that I never got one of these conversations on tape...oh how I wish I had that now! :) But, these conversations formed a bond over the miles that you wouldn't have thought possible! When we made one of our trips up at Christmas when Christopher was little, even though he was at a stage where he didn't really go to anyone he didn't know very well, he went right up to her and loved on her! Even to this day, he remembers her and misses her. She only got to be in his life for a very short period of time...but she made a huge impact in it...just as she has done with everyone who ever had the privilege of knowing her! :)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: left; "><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_5N0XbYwWmA/Txl-KWXmq5I/AAAAAAAAAu4/-UFuKhN1tTU/s400/Nana%2B%2526%2BC.%2BRay.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699725519682448274" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, she's missed greatly here on earth...but the beauty of being a Christian is that we know that when our time here on earth is done, we will get to spend ALL OF ETERNITY in Heaven with her and others who have gone on before us! Oh what a day that will be! :)</div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5865300198180250205.post-650996764613709352012-01-16T11:53:00.008-05:002012-01-16T13:53:13.215-05:00Faith in God's Timing<span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Z5qWsXdTnI/TxRWbFgplxI/AAAAAAAAAuI/tdo_D_tXtCY/s1600/52987733085413375_A0dyyE9n_c.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Z5qWsXdTnI/TxRWbFgplxI/AAAAAAAAAuI/tdo_D_tXtCY/s400/52987733085413375_A0dyyE9n_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698274451866097426" /></a>I found the above picture in my digital file of assorted pictures I've found on the internet and liked. I'm not exactly sure where this one came from, but it was most likely Facebook...seems to be where I find most of them! :) And that makes this even more appropriate, as you will read in this blog post! </span><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>This picture/saying is so perfect for where we are right now. Today is January 16th - just a little more than a week from when I got the call from Kirk asking for another $5,000 by the middle or end of the month. Here we are, smack dab in the middle of January...do we have the $5,000? Nope...but we do see God at work and have complete faith that by the end of the month, it will be here!</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Let me just fill you in on some of the goings on over the last week...and you'll see what I mean! :) When I wrote my last blog, I had NO IDEA how our $1,000 in the bank could quintuple in just a few short weeks...and to be quite honest, I was starting to feel a little (ok, more than just a little) worried. This baby is already so much a part of our family that if we were to lose the possibility of adopting him/her, it would be like a death to us...the loss would be felt that greatly. But you know what? God is bigger! He knows the plans He has for us...and those plans are NOT to harm us, but to prosper us...to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). I firmly believe that hope and future includes Christopher's sibling joining our family!</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>So...I get a call from my friend Sherry Kendrick just a couple days after the phone call from Kirk. She said she's been thinking & praying about our adoption and she had an out-of-the-box-thinking idea and wanted to run it by me before she just did it! :) She said, "Kara, do you realize you 750 Facebook friends?" While I didn't know the exact number of friends, I was not completely surprised...after all, between attending 2 high schools, my Avon business, church friends from several different churches I've attended over the years, teacher friends, and students I've worked with in various church ministries...not to mention close friends and family, it can really add up! Well...her idea was to do something on Facebook and ask all my Facebook friends to contribute $10, $20, or $25 in January and February. She had done the math and figured out that if everyone sent just $10 each of those months, that would be $15,000 in the two months...which would get us to where we need to be for now (the last chunk isn't due until the baby is born). Obviously, not everyone can/will participate and some will do more, as they are able. I talked it over with David and he agreed it would be a good idea. Sherry worked with our mutual friend Tonya Haskins and together, they created the <color:><a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/113315585455169/"><b>Jansen Family Money Tree Baby Shower</b></a> </color:></span><line-height:>(you can click on the name/link and it will take you to the event on Facebook)! The only thing David worried about was putting our home address on Facebook, so we rented a mailbox for 6 months so if people wanted to mail their contributions to us, an address could be posted. The event was created on Wednesday, January 11th...and by Saturday, January 14th, we had $295 in hand! Can I just pause a minute and say WOW!!! <line-height:> And I can't even think of this without giving glory to God!</line-height:></line-height:></div><div><span><line-height:><br /></line-height:></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; ">Now, you may be thinking...but $295 is no where near what you need. And you'd be right. So why am I praising God and giving Him glory? Because we are now $295 closer to where we need to be...and He did it in just 4 days...using people who care about our adoption...and even more amazing...some of them DON'T EVEN KNOW US!!!! They are friends of friends...some even so far removed we don't even KNOW what the connection is! How cool is that????</span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; ">So...even though I have no idea how this is all going to come together, I have faith that it will...and that it will come in His timing, not mine! I've had the feeling all along that God is going to provide right on time...stepping in at just the time when we need it...and not a minute sooner! To live by faith is to trust God for what you cannot see. We are absolutely, 100% living by faith on this! WE cannot do this in our own strength and abilities...but we trust GOD will!!!</span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; ">I've had some people tell me when I've shared with them about the Facebook event that they aren't on Facebook, but would like to help. If that's like you and you would like to join the Jansen Family Money Tree Baby Shower without joining Facebook, you can send your contribution to:</span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 20px;">David & Kara Jansen</span></div><div><span style="line-height: 20px;">4888 Davis Blvd. #130</span></div><div><span style="line-height: 20px;">Naples, FL 34104</span></div><div><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 20px;">We appreciate every bit of help...it all adds up to something pretty amazing! :)</span></div><div><span><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="line-height: 20px;">Now for a little update on baby and where we are in the non-financial aspects of the process! ;) The pregnancy is coming along fine. According to my Baby Center update, the baby is 19 weeks along, weighs 8 1/2 ounces, and measures about 6 inches...head to bottom, about the size of a large heirloom tomato. ;) We don't yet know the baby's gender...but are hoping to find that out in the next month or so. The birth mother had a doctor's appointment last week, but it wasn't an ultrasound appointment. Hopefully, she'll have an ultrasound next month so we can find out if Christopher's sibling will be a brother or a sister. According to Christopher, he's having a girl! He decided somewhere along the way (shortly after he had to give up the idea of one of each) that he was getting a sister! He has started drawing his "sister" in pictures that he draws of himself and/or our family! He's not alone...so many people think this baby is a girl. Only a few have mentioned they think the baby is a boy. It will be so fun to find out who is right! :) Right now, though...only God knows! And for us, it doesn't really matter! Just like when we started the process to adopt Christopher, we just want the baby to be healthy! And we just can't wait to welcome this baby into our lives, our home, our family!!! </span></span></div><div><span><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="line-height: 20px;">Thank you for joining us on this journey! It's quite a ride!!! ;) God bless!</span></span></div><div><span><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>Karahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03151867625007610043noreply@blogger.com4