We are the Truth

PLEASE CONSIDER REPOSTING (OR LINKING TO) MY BLOG TODAY -- ADOPTION BLOGGER DAY!

We Are The Truth – An Adoption Blogger Day: To ensure the world knows about every successful adoption, on Thursday, April 15, 2010 blog about your adoption or the adoption of someone you know. It doesn’t matter if your adoption is with Russia, domestic or otherwise international. Let the world know your truth!

By now, if you read my blog, you know about our adoption -- the adoption of our little Isaac John. The little boy, who along with our biological son, completely changed our life forever. We have been forever changed by the opportunity to be the Daddy and Mommy of Isaac.

There are, of course, exceptions to the successful adoption story. But these are just that. Exceptions.

"We are the Truth" was begun after a little boy, Artyem, was adopted by a family in the United States and then "sent back" to Russia. It is important to understand that adoptive children have the same "percentage of problems" that biological children have. However, if an adopted child has issues it is "because he was adopted." Have you ever heard someone say, "Well, that child had a lot of problems but can you blame him? He was a biological child." Adoption becomes the "reason" even when it very well may not be. Biological parents abandon their children as well.

The outrageous treatment of Artyem by his adoptive family has rightfully resulted in outrage by the Governments of Russia and the United States and all who care about children. The tragedy has cast a light on intercountry adoption that says it is not safe, the system failed and adopted children cause insurmountable problems. The heartbreak of Artyem Saviliev’s abandonment has once again elevated a singular incident to a level which may result in the suspension of intercountry adoption. Suspending adoption, even temporarily, will only cause thousands of children to suffer the debilitating effects of life in an orphanage.

You, the community of adoptees, adoptive parents, adoptive grandparents, child welfare professionals and child advocates know that the outrageous and indefensible actions of one parent are not indicative of how children are treated by adoptive families. You know that families who encounter difficulties do not simply abandon their child. You know that help is available, that solutions are found and that families can thrive. And you know that suspending adoption does not protect children but only subjects them to the depravity of an institution…and an entire life without a family.

You, the adoption community know the truth. You live the truth. You are the truth.

Join our campaign to bring the truth to light and help children in need find a permanent and safe family.

You can help! Please:

(1) Sign the letter to President Medvedev and President Obama: The letter asks both Presidents to ensure that intercountry adoption continues uninterrupted and to aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone involved in the abuse of children. You can sign anytime, but doing so before Tuesday night would help us get the letters to both Presidents before President Medvedev leaves the U.S. Click here to sign the letter.

(2) And then PLEASE consider linking to my blog from your blog. Tell the story of our adoption of Isaac or of your adoption or of another adoption you know of! Steal a photo from my blog featuring Isaac and post it on your blog. (My only request is that you not use our last name on your blog.) Share how you have witnessed his life joining to our lives. He is a part of our family and equal to our blood child. Tell everyone who reads your blog that adoption is not what this ONE story has painted it to be. It is the exception NOT the rule.

Please help! We don't want children to be hurt by one family's mistake.

(Thank you Becky for letting me know about this!)

South Floridians Once Again

After a wonderful peaceful morning at Epcot again, we climbed into the van and made the three hour drive to South Florida. At one point in the car, I woke from my snooze to discover that both Elijah and Isaac were sound asleep. I glanced over at JB and without saying the words, told him how amazing this peace and quiet felt.

Just four minutes later, Elijah woke up, started screaming, and subsequently was joined by his brother who was none-too-happy about being woken up.

Oh well. So much for peace and quiet.

By 3:00pm we were at my parents' house and onto new adventures. Keith, AD, and Charleigh joined us for dinner. And JB's Mom and niece and nephew also stopped by to say hello. It was Grand Central Station but it sure is wonderful to see everyone!

I also called to check on Scrubs today. Pat told me that, "He is totally back to his old self." Not sure that is a good thing, but at least his feet have healed.

JB will be with us until Sunday morning. We are looking forward to a few more days as a family before we split up again.

S-L-O-W

Unfortunately Eddie & Katie's Internet service is a wee bit slow. As a result, picture loading is next to impossible. I was hoping to load a few more pictures of our Magic Kingdom adventures but have ultimately decided to forgo this idea. You'll have to wait for more pictures at a later date.

So we have now done Sea World (Saturday), Animal Kingdom (Sunday), Disney (Monday), and Epcot (Tuesday). Tomorrow will be out last day, and we have actually decided to go back to Epcot. The pace and shade and peace and music and culture just appeal to us more. So instead of returning to Disney as we had originally planned, we are going to spend a few hours at Epcot again before making the three hour drive to South Florida.

Not only have we gotten to spend some quality time with "KatieEddie", but we also have spent time in and out of the parks with Josh and Sarah and their kids. We usually met them in the morning, did a few rides together, and reconnected periodically. We also met them at their hotel on two evenings for some swimming in their hotel pool. They have a kiddie pool which the boys just love. Again, pictures to come in the future.

In addition, last night, Katie made a delicious vegetarian enchilada dish and had JB's brother Rob and his girlfriend over for dinner. Rob is a student at University of Central Florida here in Orlando and lives about forty-five minutes from Eddie and Katie. While we only had one evening with them, it was wonderful to spend time together. I turned in at a normal time but JB stayed up way too late debating and discussing who-the-heck-knows-what with them. Robbie is majoring in civil engineering and definitely thinks on a plane similar to JB. They spent much of the evening amidst discussions that left mere mortals way behind.

Elijah only spilled one cup of coke at Katie's house during our visit. I think that was the only genuine damage. Elijah is, a bulldog. A bull in a china shop. A tank. He grunts and caws and points and yells. He also closes his eyes when he gets upset. This proved to be quite a problem when wandering around the eating area of Josh & Sarah's hotel playing with an inner tube. He had it around his shoulders, and then he accidentally ran into a table, clunked his head, started crying, and then, subsequently became a human pinball as he closed his eyes and began to cry. He clunked his head into three different tables before I was able to catch up with him, take off the inner tube and save him from the terrible tables attacking him with his closed eyes.

He is talking much more. He is starting to try and say many different words. We are pretty sure he is now saying "Buh bye" and some version of "Isaaac." We also heard "bus" today and a few others. But he is just a ball of passion. He does everything with incredible gusto and drive. When he is awake here at Eddie & Katie's, everyone is sort of on high alert. He appears to be looking around for something to get into at all times. His current pastime includes taking anything that Isaac is playing with and then running. He also enjoys flopping on the air mattresses in the bedroom from a run to a face-first body slam.

Isaac on the other hand is so unbelievably mellow. I think that is why we were so blown away when he just melted when he saw the Disney characters today. Every free minute he has had while at Eddie & Katie's, he has just grabbed a handful of cars, kneeled down by their end table, and begun driving them around. He stays in one place and just takes everything in while his little brother runs around like a human tornado around him.

Anyways, that isn't really related to our trip. It's just a side note of our lives with two little Irish twins. While our adventures have been exhausting and a lot of work and a lot of tears and naps on the go, we have really enjoyed getting to see the looks on our boys' faces -- especially Isaac's. Elijah is still a bit young to appreciate things. But Isaac seems to just love the sights and sounds and adventures.

Denise left a comment on the previous post about how she found herself floating between an old post I had written on infertility and the picture of me with my two boys at Disney World. It is unbelievable to me that just two years ago, our house included no children. Our lives were full of tears and frustrations and dreams that appeared they would never come true. I cannot believe that we had the opportunity to take our two little boys on a crazy trip to Disney World.

What an amazing opportunity and fantastic blessing. I am so lucky to have been able to do this with them.

It was simply wonderful.

But we are ready to take a break from amusement parks and get some real family and relaxation time.

All worth it

While JB and I are not huge crowd and tourist activity people, all of our trip was worth it for this morning at Epcot when we stood in line for just fifteen minutes before getting to take a picture with about five different Disney characters. Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie were all there to greet the boys. Isaac isn't a big smiler. He's usually serious and standoffish. But he was absolutely thrilled to see each of these characters! His whole face lit up. Seeing his face was so worth the trip!

So long! Fairwell!

Yesterday after our Disney day, we dropped Jessie off at the airport. Two hours later she was back with her family in Nashville, TN ... a one hour drive from their hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky. What a blessing to get to spend over a week with Jessie. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but beautiful on the inside too. She was unbelievably helpful and enjoyable. Her last words to me as I saw her off onto the plan were, "I'm going to miss those two little terds."

We are going to miss her as well! So long Jessie!

Disney World

A bit past nap time

Pictures take too long to load at Eddie's house but I did manage this one. How cute is our little guy, asleep on Daddy, and being shaded from the sun by Daddy's hat. Elijah fell asleep on the safari the first time we rode it in my lap. He transferred to the stroller nicely. The second time we rode the safari, Isaac got very crabby. If JB told him to look one direction, he'd immediately look the other. Five minutes later he was asleep on JB. Knowing he wouldn't transfer as easily, JB chose to carry him back to the van -- which was a bit hot considering we had trouble remembering where "Unicorn" was even though we remembered we parked there. I managed to snap this photo on the way back to the car. A memory I hope to never forget. Trust me folks. When you have a moment like this, you won't care or think about whether this is your adopted or biological child. JB is just carrying his boy. Blood really isn't thicker than water. Really. What a cool kid Isaac is. How lucky we are to be his Dad and Mom.

AK / SW

AK = Animal Kingdom.

SW = Swimming.

AK was done in a.m. hours. SW was completed in p.m. hours.

I have decided that I am not sure what I was thinking when I decided to train for a triathlon in the middle of going on a Disney vacation. By 2:00pm, when we left the park, my feet were so sore there was no way I could go for a run. And I had done a run the day before. So, instead, a swim it was. There also is no bike at the workout center here so I am thinking I am going to be doing a good bit of swimming. Not sure I feel like running and sweating after walking all day.

I swam 50 laps in Katie and Eddie's community pool. A lap was down and back. I have no idea how far this was as I have no idea how many meters their pool is. But it was a lot. And it felt great. Very refreshing ... especially after I got over the initial shock of the cool water. I'm definitely still a native Floridian at heart. April is still a bit early to be in a pool for me!

The only thing that annoyed me about my swim was that there were a bunch of people smoking around the pool. Nothing like working on your breathing and getting a whiff of smoke. I've realized that I definitely grew up in the right decade -- a basically smoke-free decade. I am definitely thankful for the smoke-free theme parks and restaurants and airplanes and the like. I really dislike cigarette smoke. I know some of you reading this are smokers. Don't worry. I still love you. I just don't love smoke.

As far as Animal Kingdom goes, it was a wonderful day. Other than getting there an hour before the Park opened because the Disney website had it listed incorrectly (hundreds of people did the same thing so we knew it wasn't our mistake), we had a wonderful day. We met Josh and Sarah and their three kiddos (Tyler 6, Jordan 4, and Mary Beth 10 months) at the gate and were then greeted by Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto who drove in on a truck and opened the Park for the day. Isaac was delighted. Elijah just wanted more to snack on in the stroller.

Throughout the day we were greeted by beautiful weather -- a slight breeze and not enough warmth to make you sweat or drench the kiddos when they fell asleep on Mommy (Elijah) or Daddy (Isaac). Both boys seemed to enjoy seeing all the sights, sounds, and animals. We also took them on their first little ride -- a Dinosaur Dumbo type of ride. Neither of them cried although they looked a little unsure of what was going on.

We knew that Isaac loves to read books with us and loves to learn the names of animals prior to today. But I don't think we realized how far this fascination had gone until he pointed to a Swan today and said, "Cygnet!" (Did anyone even know that a Cygnet is a baby swan?) Another time he walked up to the picture of a red-faced monkey and gleefully exclaimed: "Uakari!" I guess the kid has really learned his animals! I think he knows more of them than me now.

We came back in the early afternoon, I swam, and my three guys hung out at "KatieEddie's" as Isaac calls them. Afterwards, we met Josh and Sarah and their kids at their hotel in the Disney Resort and had dinner and let our boys swim in the little kiddo pool.

It is amazing to me how different our two little guys are. Elijah jumped right into the water, splashing and yelling and grunting. Isaac stood back, put a toe in, walked away, put two toes in, walked away, and after about fifteen minutes, finally had worked his whole self into the pool. Throughout our day at Animal Kingdom, the differences were also prominent. Isaac wants to get down and walk as long as there aren't too many people around to intimidate him. Elijah wants you to carry him or he wants to go up to strangers and talk to them. He will actually squat down if you want him to walk and lift his arms, waiting for you to pick him up.

We were only asked if the boys were twins about, um, forty-seven times today. Sometimes we just said no, sometimes when asked their age we just said "under a year" and sometimes I told their story. I am impressed how easily I talk about the Lord and how He blessed us when I go into the story. It really is a witnessing tool. I look forward to watching how He uses these two blessings in the lives of others throughout the years.

Tomorrow is the Magic Kingdom. We will also bring Jessie to the Orlando airport in the late afternoon for her return to Nashville, TN and her home. It was incredibly wonderful to get to have her with us. The boys will really miss having her around, as will I. I am hoping I can get her to come spend some time with us again in the future -- even if we are in Turkey!

As for seeing Josh and Sarah? How wonderful to reconnect with our "Fred and Ethel". During our years in Franklin, Kentucky (2000-2003), we lived right across the street from Josh (my first cousin) and his wife Sarah. We were the best of friends and spent nearly every evening at one of our houses. We so enjoyed these years of our life and have since continued a fabulous friendship. Sarah is one of the few people that I talk to regularly on the phone and can really share my heart with. We are so blessed to spend a few days with them before we move so far away.

All right. This post is way too long. Need to go to bed in preparation for another big day tomorrow.

Sea World

Today we went to Sea World. We have our 4-day Disney pass that we will start using tomorrow, but Sea World actually gives military members and their families free tickets to go to their park. So went to Sea World completely free today! Packed our lunches and therefore only had to pay the parking fee. Jessie did two roller coasters by herself. JB has no interest in them (he has difficulty ascertaining the purpose of making yourself sick on purpose) and while I used to like roller coasters, I have to admit that I have gotten a bit wimpy in my old age. JB and I each took a turn riding a wet ride with her that was fun and had no lines. But other than that, we stayed off rides.

It was a gorgeous day. Not too hot. Cool breeze blowing all day. And, as we hoped, the park was not crowded as all the Spring Breakers were headed back north. Our boys, however, are at that precarious age that they require a nap. Sometimes Isaac can get by without one, but Elijah is not a happy camper without some sleep. That kid loves to sleep when it is his time! We therefore decided we'd get to the park right when it opened, and when the boys started melting, we'd go home. We also made a point to take everything in stride, not rush, and just enjoy being together as a family. It was a wonderful day. While people were all running around with their mission, we just coasted around, focused on a fun day together. We also did not attempt to go to any shows as we just knew that our odds of successfully sitting through one with two boys was probably not something that would result in peace to our lives.

My cousin Josh and his wife Sarah and their three children: Tyler, Jordan, and Mary Beth, are on their way to Orlando as we speak from Nashville. They will get here tonight, and tomorrow we will meet up with them at Animal Kingdom.

Pictures may have to wait until I move to another computer as I haven't tried to figure out whether I can get them loaded at Katie & Eddie's.

Words may have to do for now. Stay tuned.

We are here

In Orlando. At JB's sister's house. Eddie and Katie and their dog Barkley are wonderful! JB is flying in as we speak. He got an earlier flight (for free!) thanks to flying on military orders. Eddie is picking him up while we speak. That was a relief to me as I didn't want to get back in that car after a seven hour drive.

Isaac has been playing with his cars on their end table since we got in. Elijah has been asleep since we got in. The drive went well. It was so wonderful to have Jessie to help me find pacifiers and crackers and stuffed animals and watch the boys while I ran into the bathroom.

Tomorrow starts our Disney adventure. We plan to do Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney, and Sea World as well.

Stay tuned for all the details.

WWF

WWF.

Not the WWF you are thinking of. (Speaking of that, I remember a time, when I was about ten, and my softball friends were into "Glow", the female version of professional wrestling. I tried so hard to like it so I could fit in with them, but I just couldn't help feeling it was the stupidest thing ever.)

That point is completely unrelated to my post.

My post is on a different WWF. You know. Windshield wiper fluid.

I have never, ever, in my entire life, bought windshield wiper fluid. Is this embarrassing to admit? Or are there are other people out there who can say the same? And then ... is it just coincidence that the one time we run out of WWF and JB isn't here and I need to buy it that two different stores are out of it?

Am I missing something? Is there some shortage in the WWF department that I don't know about?

. . . anyways, we are off to Orlando. Somehow, thanks to Jessie entertaining my boys on numerous occasions, I got everything packed that we needed for a three week trip which includes Orlando, South Florida, and New Mexico for me. In addition I had to pack for JB all the things he did not take with him to Texas. It also included getting Scrubs ready for dog camp.

I'm a little impressed with myself. Seriously. Patting my own back here right now.

So we are off.

Without WWF, but off nonetheless, off!

Another snake

Yesterday Jessie and I took the boys for a walk on the Bay. Scrubs couldn't come with us as his feet are still healing. He is doing MUCH better however, and we have realized that his apparent distrust of Jessie while he was injured was actually his attempting to get Jessie to play with him. We just couldn't tell because he couldn't get up to initiate the play. We thought he didn't like her but yesterday he climbed into bed with her and started licking her face. It just took him being able to walk to show her what he was trying to say all along.

Anyways. The Bay. The Bay and ... a snake. No joke. As soon as we descended the stairs, I heard Jessie say, "Oh my gosh." Then Wendi said, "Oh my gosh." Then we decided to leave the premises. A snake. The third snake I have run into in as many years.

Later that evening while talking to JB, I brought up the snake.

"What'd it look like?" he asked.

I knew he would ask. And I had tried, as I backed up with one boy in my arms and the other by the hand, to photograph the snake in my memory so I could relate the information to my husband when he would inevitably ask later. But something about being afraid and protecting my sons seems to make the coloring of a snake a little less important in the big scheme of things.

"I'm not sure. I think it was brown," I said in reply.

"Like brown stripes or dark brown or brown splotches?"

I wrinkled my nose and turned and asked Jessie what she thought. "Splotches?" she said, more asking then saying.

John signed. "What about the tail. What did it look like?"

I sighed back. "Ummm . . . give me some choices?"

"Did it have a rattle?"

"No. That I know. No rattle," I said excitedly. "But actually that's all I know because he was lying on his tail I think."

"Was he thick or thin?"

"Thin?" Again my answer was more question than statement and so, at this, John gave up trying to determine what kind of snake it was. "Anyways," I said. "Don't you think I did the right thing?"

"The right thing?" John asked.

"Yeah. I mean, when I see a snake I should immediately remove everyone from the area, right?"I heard JB pause. A pause? I mean this is a snake? How could I have done the wrong thing? "John?"

"Well," he said. "Actually, the right thing would be being able to distinguish what kind of snake it was so that if it is not poisonous, you could show it to the boys so that they develop an appreciation of snakes and not a fear."

That was word for word. No exaggeration there at all. And folks ... he was serious. Dead serious. I should learn how to identify snakes so as to teach my sons. I should not necessarily retreat.

The truth? I am not deathly afraid of snakes. We used to have four of them. Two milk snakes and two corn snakes when we were first married. Each set had an albino which JB was using to work on some experiment with dominant and recessive traits. I named them: Cheetah, Bonita, Pongo, and Perdita. This irritated JB as he said you don't name reptiles. I'm not sure who decided that, but it became a running annoyance for me to call them by name and for him to tell whoever we were talking to that they, in fact, did not have names. We eventually sold them when our lifestyle indicated that keeping them around wouldn't be feasible. But while we had them, I would hold them while JB was cleaning out the cages. I wasn't afraid of them. Not at all. They weren't poisonous. They didn't bite. Heck our first lovebird would do more damage than Cheeta, Bonita, Pongo, or Perdita.

But still? A snake on the beach?

I think not.

Even if I thought I knew what it was, what if I was wrong?

Sigh . . . further proof that there are some differences in marriage that will never be bridged by all the respect in the world. JB can name his snakes and identify them.

I, on the other hand, will walk away. Don't you agree?

Check!

The good news?! All work on my part is done for our No-Fee Passports. This may seem like a little thing, but a little thing done is one little thing I don't need to do. So happy about this.

I've decided to wait until we get back from our three week endeavors before attempting to set up another appointment to get regular passports for the boys and a renewal for JB.

Love checking something off my list!

Home Sweet Home

I will miss some things about living here. Not just some things. I will miss a lot of things.

This will be the fourth time in my adult life that I will pick up everything I own and leave everything familiar behind and start over somewhere completely new.

And once again, I am excited about the new adventure. But nostalgic about the life I will leave behind.

It's been a difficult week for me. JB finished a trying three week rotation and then found out about this trip. There is so much going on in our lives right now: selling our condo, training for a triathlon, John going out of town, a difficult rotation, preparing to move across the world, a three week trip, a dog with an injury, oh and two little boys to take care of. Add to that the emotions of preparing to say good bye, yet again, and I think it just toppled me over a bit.

My buddy Kristi sent me an excerpt from her devotional this morning.

I am the Potter; you are the clay. I designed you before the foundation of the world. I arrange the events of each day to form you into this preconceived pattern. My everlasting Love is at work in every event of your life. On some days your will and Mine flow smoothly together. You tend to feel in control of your life when our wills are in harmony. On other days you feel as if you are swimming upstream, against the current of My purposes. When that happens, stop and seek My Face. The opposition you feel may be from Me, or it may be from the evil one.

Talk with Me about what you are experiencing. Let my Spirit guide you through treacherous waters. As you move through the turbulent stream with me, let circumstances mold you into the one I desire you to be. Say yes to your Potter as you go through this day.

Kristi's email not only encouraged me but reminded me that my journey will be so much easier in 2010 than it would be decades previously. I will have skype and email and great phone deals. I will be able to talk, every day if I want, to my parents and in-laws and friends even if we have to negotiate the eight hour time difference.

But I will miss this place.

I will miss walking out my front door or opening the windows on a windy night and hearing the wind bouncing off the waves in Choctawhatchee Bay. I will miss the steady stream of visitors who frequented our house on their way from here to there. I will miss the nursery that I waited until the last minute to prepare -- the nursery we had waited so many years to have. I will miss my friends across the street and around the block. The dirt path in the front yard that Scrubs has claimed as a Frisbee track. Wooded trails perfect for running my pup off leash. I'll miss the new women I have met in MOPs and Bible Study. I'll miss have Dr. G. for a doctor. The weather. The beautiful Emerald Coast. Destin Commons. Publix. Aaaah sweet Publix.

And most of all I will miss the wonderful women who have so completely blown me away with their friendship, love, acceptance, encouragement, and support over the last three years. In just the last few days I have been reminded yet again how integral these women have been to my surviving here. Amidst a sea of stresses, I had lunch with Andrea yesterday and felt free to let the tears come in regards to how many things I needed to do and how little of me there is to go around. And then this morning, a phone call, and as if God told her to, it was Jodi-the-magnificent, calling to offer to take Scrubs to dog camp for me on Friday. She couldn't have known that I had just given this stress to the Lord, overwhelmed with how I could get him there and get everything in the van that we needed for our trip.

Just two examples of the people that have been my family for the last three years.

And family. More nostalgia welling up inside of me. I know Turkey is the right place for us. I feel peace with our decision. And I am looking forward to the beautiful house we will get there and the new people we will meet and the experience of living in another country and the family feel of a base set apart from all we hold dear. But my family. My loved ones. I am grieving the fact that we will be eight hours ahead of them and that our time for talking will be small. If JB goes out of town, finding someone to drop in and help me, won't be nearly as easy. Sure our family is ten hours away right now. But ten hours won't even get them there by plane a few months from now. I wish I could have it all. I wish I could have them live right next door and John not deploy and the whole thing.

But I can't.

And so tonight, I am excited. But I am sad. For the things I'll miss and the people we won't get to see.

On, to new adventures.

Family Night at the Mall

Tuesday nights is "Family Night" at the mall. Free carousel rides and kids' meals as well as some other fun cars (why bother putting the money in them?) and a play area. We had a wonderful evening out. So blessed to have Jessie with me as this is not something I would have attempted by myself. She was so very helpful.

Isaac has been waking up quite grumpy from his naps. Here he is coming down from his crabby state while watching "Cucumbers" with his Jessie.

And here he is giving Jessie a very angry face when she tried to take his photo! He really dislikes photo taking lately.

Do the next thing

Many a questioning, many a fear,
many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
time, opportunity, guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,
trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer,
do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,
leave all resultings, do the next thing.

Loved the poem Joy! Thank you for sharing that and for the others of you who encouraged me when I was feeling the stress the other day. My Mom knew it as when she called, I had trouble not crying. When I talked to JB that evening, he encouraged me, as he always did, and said that he had just had a lecture on something that he thought might help me.

He said that I need to, mentally or actually, make columns of things I need to do. The horizontal columns would include: Important, Not-Important, and then the vertical rows would be Urgent, and Not-Urgent. Unless something is in the Important and Urgent column, it doesn't have to be something I'm worried about right now.

I'm looking at the big picture and seeing the 1000 things I need to do in the next three months to move us across the world. But how many of those 1000 things are urgent and important today? Very few. So, like it says in the poem above, I'm going to just do the next thing.

Today that means going into Fort Walton Beach to get birth certificates for both boys and bringing them in so that we can get our non-fee passports underway. I'm also going to try and start packing for our trip. But that's it. That's all for today. Just those few things.

Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,
trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Isaac's language

Each day Isaac is saying something that just makes me laugh, smile, or melt. He continues to impress us with the things he says.

His latest thing is "Mommy do it." If he wants me to do something, he will say "Mommy do it." An example. We were at the park and Jessie started to push him on the swing. He shook his head and said, "Mommy do it." The only problem is that "Mommy do it" Isaac-style comes out, "Mommy tooted." Cracks us all up every time.

Pronouns are still not very unimportant in communication to Isaac. When I am going somewhere in the house, and he wants to come as well, he will say "with me." I realized that this is what he hears me saying all the time. I say: "Do you want to come with me?" So he says "with me" instead of "with you." Just makes me smile.

Scrubby has also been the recipient of Isaac's propensity for verbiage. When Scrubs disobeys Isaac now says, "Bubby naughty." He will say, "No no Bubby." He will also say "Down" or "Come." Scrubs just looks at me as if to say, Seriously? I have someone else telling me what to do?

Oh and the Veggie Tales? He calls them "Cucumbers." Yesterday he said, "I turned cucumbers off Mommy." Five word sentence!

He has a National Geographic animal book that he loves. He is now saying nearly every animal in there including the "galago" -- still not sure what that thing is. He is also differentiating types of monkeys. I can't ever remember what it is called, but Isaak will say: "Ukari" each time. He also loves the raccoon, sea unicorn, and macaroni penguin.

How amazing, and what a privilege to watch children learn. I keep thinking how God planned it this way. He created us. And he gave us parents. Those parents are there to mold us and help us grow and learn. And then we fly off by ourselves. That was all in God's design plan. What an amazing miracle life is. And how amazing to get to help that life grow into a man. It truly doesn't matter that that life grew in another womb. I still get to be part of the big picture.

Beach day

This morning we took the boys to the beach. While I did end up with a huge sunburn in a circle on my back from the bathing suit that I didn't know had a hole in the back, the day was a success. My burn also encouraged me that I did a good job coating the boys.

Jessie spent a ton of time in the water after these pics were take. My boys went in a bit but mostly stayed on the shore.

Here are a few pics and a video:

Crunch time

Woke up this morning to a lovely email from my buddy Kristi. Actually it was an email from her husband Lee, forwarded to me. Apparently the next two weeks are quite crucial in our training. Lee wrote:

By the way, you are now in CRUNCH Time on training. This week and next week should be hard and you should be tired. You can gain fitness for the next two weeks. The last week will be a time to cut it back a little and to absorb the training. So in other words: train your butt off!

Well Lee is right. Today was hard. And I was tired. I swam a total of 400m in the pool. That's 8 laps. And that's how far our swim will be on race day. I can't do it without stopping yet. And that isn't with pairing a run AND a bike with it. Today's swim was supposed to be in the form of 2 x 50, 1 x 250, and 1 x 50. However, I am really not strong enough swimming to swim five straight laps so a slight break when I touched the wall each time was in order.

Each email I receive from Kristi makes me appear quite the slouch. I am doing what is on our training guide. Kristi is doing that and then some. She has always been this way. Once she gets her mind set on something, there is no deviation allowed from the Kristi! In my case, I am stubborn too ... but not as stubborn as Kristi.

I am so looking forward to spending a few days with Kristi and the race. What I am not looking forward to are the days leading up to Friday of this week. There is sooooo much to do to get ready for three weeks away from Base. We'll be in Orlando for nearly a week, we'll be in South Florida for two weeks, and I'll be in New Mexico for part of that.

I also have to get Scrubs to dog camp on Friday. I called Pat, the woman who runs the camp he attends. I told her that I was worried about his feet, but she told me that she'd take care of him even if he had the injuries still. Poor Scrubs! He hasn't really gotten up at all since this happened yesterday. He has only gone to the bathroom one time (this morning.) However, he did get up onto his bed today which meant he could put a tad bit of pressure on the feet. A good sign. I still feel lousy, but I know I didn't do it on purpose.

There is also soooo much to do before we move to Turkey in just over three months. That coupled with this "vacation" has left me just a wee bit stressed out. I am trying to remember the words I am learning in our current Bible Study. We have been reminded to ask ourselves "What IS" and not "What IF" in an attempt to stop the worry that can plague our hearts.

What IS right now is that there is a lot to do. But much of what I feel stressed about are things I can't do anything about at this moment. So I need to live in the IS and not the IF.

The IS right now is a screaming Elijah. Gotta run!

Sweet girl

I am loving me some Jessie. What a sweet girl. We have some great conversations. She's funny and easy going and so helpful. The boys are head over heals for her too. They love to play with her, read with her, hug her, whatever. Here are a few pictures from our first full day on Base:

Jessie watched the boys while I exercised, and I left her at the park with them for a few minutes while I went to check on dinner. She's fantastic with them. She plays with them and talks to them. It's wonderful. I am so amazingly blessed that she will be here to spend the week with me.

Horrid

Horrid. That is how I feel right now.

JB left this morning for San Antonio. After dropping him off at the airport, I came back home. Jessie watched the boys during their naps while I went to do my triathlon training.

I decided to bike.

I have never taken Scrubs biking, but I thought I would try it.

He was amazing at it. He caught right on. I imagine it is from all the running he does next to a stroller.

We rode three miles out. Then we stopped at a trail in the woods, and I jogged while he ran off leash behind me. He'd stop to introduce himself to a bush and then catch up with me when he was ready. Then we rode the three miles back home.

When we walked in the door, I noticed he was limping. He laid down immediately, and I noticed both of his front paws were bloody! The poor dog tore open the pads on both his front feet.

I felt terrible. It was either too hot or we ran too fast or too long. If I had any idea, I would never have done that to him.

Ugh. Terrible. Feeling really cruddy right now. Scrubs didn't even get up when my wonderful friend Kara (bearing Easter dessert) came to the door his feet hurt him so bad.

I'm so sorry Bubby.

Jessie grows up!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:8-11

* * * * *

In other news, here is a little background-through-pictures of our houseguest for the next week or so.

Here is Jessie as I remember her. When we met Mike, Deanna, and family, Jessie wasn't even born yet, but we got close them when Jessie was spit-fire two-year-old. Seriously. You have never met a kid like her.

We adopted these kiddos to do fun things like zoos and museums and aquariums and stuff like that.

Mike and Deanna with Sam, Jessie, and Grace. This was probably in about 2001?

A recent photo of the kiddos.

Here's Jessie in her first few moments with the kiddos. Putting a curious George hat on Elijah ...

... and having Elijah put it on her.

Back from Birmingham

Heather & me!

Shea & me!

Couldn't find the timer on my camera so the next best thing was a picture with both my friends -- teammates at WKU. Shea and I have stayed in touch since we graduated in 1999, but I haven't seen Heather in over ten years. How wonderful to catch up with girls that came in with me my freshmen year (along with Kristi) at WKU. Heather ended up leaving WKU and playing at a smaller school. She was an amazing three point shooter! Pure touch. Now she is teaching, coaching, and chasing around two children of her own. Shea and I have stayed in much better touch. She is an incredible loyal friend and a wonderful Christian who has been through a lot in her life. I am blessed to call her my close friend.

Jodi came over at about noon yesterday and watched the boys for me until JB get off work. I left about 12:30 and by 5:30 (thanks to some heavy Easter/rush-hour traffic) was in Birmingham. We had a wonderful dinner, and while Heather had to return 1.5 hours back to her house, Shea stayed the night with me at a local hotel. I got up this morning, did my triathlon workout (20 minute run and 25 minute bike), and then Shea and I had a great breakfast before she headed back home, and I headed to Panera Bread to meet Jessie and her mom Deanna. From there, Jessie and I headed to Florida while Deanna returned to Kentucky (about 4 hours each way for both of us.)

Mike and Deanna were our pastor and his wife when we lived in Kentucky. We became fast friends with them and their three kiddos: Sam, Grace, and Jessie. For those of you who know me real well, Deanna and Ronnie are brother and sister. Ronnie and his wife Ebby (and their four kiddos: English, Veronica, Hunter, and Cole) are stalkers and moved to Minnesota with us. They are still there now.

While in Kentucky, we became the "godparents" of Sam, Grace, and Jessie, and really fell in love with their family. While our move to Minnesota and then Florida put a lot of space between us and we didn't talk as often or see them as often, we have always stayed in touch and have visited quite a few times since 2003, when we left Kentucky. Despite the fact that we no longer keep in touch as regularly as we should, Deanna and Ronnie's families will always hold an incredibly special place in our hearts.

Sam is now going to be starting his freshman year of college playing football at Lindsey Wilson College this fall. Grace is a junior. And Jessie is a seventh grader spending her Spring Break with me!

The boys have already fallen completely in love with Jessie. It is so cute. They really look at her like, "Who is the beautiful girl you brought home to us?!" The best thing Jessie can do during the next week is what she did tonight: play with the kiddos. They love that attention, and sometimes I feel so stretched. I'm so excited to have her here.

Don't worry. Pictures to come!

Start of a busy April

Elijah picked a fine and dandy day to decide that he no longer wanted to take a morning nap!

I was planning on getting everything ready for my little "getaway" weekend while he was sleeping. Unfortunately, as you can tell from the little video below, he thought that was a lousy idea.

So I am left to get ready for my trip with two awake kiddos. Not the easiest thing, but I'm figuring it out.

And while I am on the topic of figuring it out. I figured out that the Lord is in the small things too. The guy at the oil change place had mercy on me and put me in front of everyone else so that I didn't have to wait with two little kids. Thank the Lord for small miracles. (The other people weren't technically "waiting". They had dropped their cars off.) And I know. I left it until the very last minute. No excuse for that. But I needed to get it changed before me trip.

So ... yes, I am leaving town today. My wonderful goddaughter, Jessie, who lives in Kentucky, decided to spend her Spring Break hanging out with me and my boys. She is thirteen now, and quite the lady. She's also learning how to take care of kids. What a great way to inundate herself. She can definitely learn more about that hanging out with me for a week. In exchange, we are taking her to Disney World with us! Way fun.

Jessie's Mom, Deanna, is driving with her to meet me. We are going to both meet halfway. However, I decided to go up tonight and get a hotel and spend the evening with two of my college teammates: Heather and Shea. So I'm driving up tonight, getting a hotel, and in the morning, I'll connect with Deanna and Jessie, have lunch, and drive back to Base with Jessie.

My wonderful husband will watch the boys.

On Sunday, he will take off for a week long allergy course in Texas. Then, the following Friday, Jessie and I will drive the boys to Orlando. John will fly there from Texas to Orlando. The original plan was for him to drive with us, but this course came up and so we adjusted things a bit. Thank goodness Jessie was planning on going with me!

The whole Disney thing emerged because of a great deal the military is offering to families. So we are going to stay with JB's sister Katie, see his brother Rob and his girlfriend, and just enjoy the parks at our leisure.

Anyways, we are going to spend a few days at Disney World (where we'll meet our awesome cousins Josh and Sarah and their kiddos will come too) before JB drops me off in South Florida and then gets a rental car and returns to Base for two weeks to do nights.

Oh did I tell you!? We booked a one-way rental car from Fort Lauderdale to Eglin AFB for $21.00 with tax! Is that even POSSIBLE?!

But out adventures don't end in South Florida. I'm going to go to New Mexico in the middle of my South Florida visit. I'm going to leave the boys with my Mom and go see Kristi and her kiddos and run a triathlon. Then I'll go back to South Florida, pick-up the boys, and drive back to Base solo.

Okay so did you get all that?

Needless to say our April is booked solid.

Oh, and yes, we are still moving halfway around the world in just three months. JB and I had a large pow-wow last night to try to nail down how we will get all of our stuff from here to there.

Wow. I gotta get off the computer and get some stuff done.

Even with Elijah awake.

Easter success / Passport failure

Today, I was courageous. I ventured out to a busy, kid event by myself with both boys in my care.

Well, not completely by myself. My friend Robyn and her little John Benjamin went with us. But I was without another adult dedicated strictly to helping me. No husband or mom or Joni or Jodi. Just me. That is big for me.

We took our three boys to the Destin Library for an Easter Egg Hunt! Robyn's idea of course. She comes up with all the good ideas. While we were about 3 minutes late because I went the wrong way, and as a result nearly all the eggs were already scooped up by the older kids (it was for kids 0-4), the boys didn't seem to care and were a bit freaked out by carrying around a bag and picking up eggs anyhow. We did, however, manage to get some good photos. Isaac, as always, thinks photos are for the birds, so there are more of Elijah!

The boys eating their goldfish-filled eggs! There was no candy. What a great idea!

Isaac taking in his first bunny sighting.

Isaac giving the bunny "five" ... a bit reluctantly but five nonetheless.

Elijah and the bunny. This is as close as he wanted to get.

My rather pathetic attempt at a photo with the bunny. The boys wouldn't get close unless I held them. Elijah is a bit concerned. Isaac is a bit cautious. Very typical of their personalities.

Here's Robyn little guy taking a look at the Easter Bunny's teeth.

The boys were much more interested in this fake Easter Bunny!

"Dear Jesus, I pray for Mr. Bunny's bellyache. Be with him. Heal him Lord."

He hung out with the Bunny for quite some time. They had a good talk I think.

My little boys. They are growing up so fast!

"Holy cow Mom! Look at this Easter Bunny!"

My sweet-spirited boy.

After our time with the Bunny, Robyn and I made a last-minute decision to stop at a playground at the beach, meeting another gal from MOPs who we ran into at the egg hunt.

First we picked the wrong park on the beach. Then we walked to the new park on the beach. Then I left the boys with Robyn and went back to get the van so it would be closer to the new park on the beach. Then I remembered sunscreen. Then, when he was all sticky, Elijah did a face plant into the sand. A full, mouth open plant.

I also learned that when applying sunscreen to young squiggly children, you should put tiny bits in your hands. If you put a huge honkin' mess of sunscreen, you have no free hand to apply the sunscreen!

Duh!

I knew we had passport appointments at 1:15. I hadn't thought ahead to think about the fact that the boys would get such a mess at the new park at the beach. Robyn informed me shortly after Elijah face planted, that they would need baths. I told her maybe we could skip baths. Robyn then pointed to the thick line of sand stuck to Elijah's hairline.

Yeah, okay. She's right. They'll need baths.

About this time, I started feeling overwhelmed. Feeling like I had bitten off more than I could chew for one day. I always try to avoid this. Try to stick to simple outings. Try not to put stress on myself. Instead of holding this in and panicking, I said it out loud. I told Robyn how I was feeling. And she came to the rescue! She jumped into "mega supportive encouraging friend" mode. She told me we should leave the park right then, grab lunch on the way home, and then would help me get the boys ready for their passport appointment.

Aren't friends fantastic?

Since having children I have come to understand the beauty of certain things. Putting small bits of lotion on your hand instead of huge honkin' messes for one. Velcro shoes for another. Sippy cups. And drive-thrus. Love me a drive-thru. Why don't they have them at the Post Office?

A quick stop at Arby's and then home. It was good we left when we did because it took all the remaining time to get the boys fed, bathed, and changed. Robyn was an incredible help and walked out the door with her little John Benjamin just as JB came in the door to go to the passport appointment with me.

. . . now, it is at this point in the story that I have to take a deep sigh. A very deep sigh.

I have to remind myself that we want to go to Turkey. We want adventure. We like adventure. And part of adventure is the preparation for that adventure.

There are going to be bumps in the road on our way to Turkey. There is a lot that has to be done. People have done it before. They'll do it again. I'm doing a Bible Study this semester on "self talk." If my self-talk is worry, it is not good self-talk.

That being said, I checked my stack of necessary items a gazillion times before dragging two one-year-olds and a husband to the Post Office right smack in the middle of nap time. (They only do appointments between 1:15 and 2:30).

I was so careful. I called many times. I checked the website. I made sure I had everything we needed to get our passports. The boys needed a regular passport at the post office on Base and then no-fee passports across the street at a different building due to some "agreement" our country has with the country of Turkey. I only needed a no-fee passport as my regular passport is good for a few more years. JB needed a renewal of his regular passport. He doesn't need a no-fee passport since he is the active duty member.

I did everything. I got everything. Birth certificates. Marriage certificates. Forms typed online and then printed. Double copies. Checkbook. Military IDs photo copied. Two forms of ID. Then I had to find a day that JB could get off and go with us as we both have to be there to sign the forms.

Walked in. Handed them our stuff.

Prayed that we had everything as I often do when going to a government establishment with two one-year-olds.

Didn't pray hard enough. :)

Apparently Elijah's birth certificate is only a "birth announcement" and is not the real thing. We need to go to the courthouse and get the "real thing."

Now we are in a new jam. JB is TDY (Tour of Duty) for the next week. Then I am out of town for two weeks after that. But we both have to be present to sign the forms. And we need to get this process started as it can take 6-8 weeks.

We went ahead and got the boys pictures taken. (The woman kept telling me "they are moving"and I was like, uh, yeah, they are one!) After that we managed to get forms JB can have notarized so that I can come to the Post Office without him next week. And across the street, at the no-fee passport place, we got them to let him sign and store all our paperwork with them so I can just drop in with Elijah's birth certificate and no kids or husband.

So as we were walking out the door with two very tired little boys, and I was sweating and flustered, JB reminded me that this is an adventure! That we want to make progress and even though I have to go back to the Post Office and the no-fee-passport-place (which I can't remember the name of), we made progress. We moved forward. A little something was scratched off our list.

Adventure! Don't you love it?

In just one day, I learned ...

• how long it actually takes to pull wipes out of their box one by one. Answer: not long. Isaac illustrated that for me.
• that Elijah is capable of climbing a lot higher than we thought. (Think outside tabletop, arms waving in the air, while we were eating dinner with some new friends inside their house.)
• that it doesn't taste good to eat your words. Told my friend Jaime when she was visiting: "My boys never pee on me while I am changing their diaper." Last night, right before we went out to dinner, my words were soaked. Thanks Elijah.
• that any toy that bounces or has wheels has intense issues with being shared.
• that it isn't always the dog's fault. Scrubs has been attempting to turn his head and not take snacks offered by Elijah, knowing it is against the rules. Elijah often manages to shove the piece-of-whatever into his mouth nonetheless.
• Fighting and love can switch back and forth more times than the "wipers on the bus" can.
• that Isaac can ask for "apple juice" 100 times in 10 minutes, and he hasn't ever even had it before? Where did he learn what this is and that he wants it?

Eggless pancakes

One of the mornings that Jaime was here, I made egg less pancakes! Jaime asked for seconds so they must not have been all too terrible. Although she did say the "syrup can help everything." Ha!

Did you know that you can substitute any of the following for each egg in a recipe:

• 1 tsp baking power, 1 tblsp liquid, 1 tblsp vinegar
• 1 tsp yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tblsp of apricot puree
• 1 1/2 tblsp water, 1 1/2 tblsp oil, 1 tsp baking powder*
• 1 packet plain gelatin, 2 tblsp warm water. Do not mix until ready to use

I used the one with the star by it for my pancakes, and they were pretty good. Of course, Isaac barely ate them anyways. But Elijah chowed on them. And Scrubs made a meal of them when I left the kiddie table unoccupied for a few moments. I knew it was Scrubs that finished them off since he left all the strawberries I had served with the pancakes. The dog likes everything but strawberries. Go figure!

While we don't make a lot of baked goods, it sure is nice to know that Isaac can still eat basically anything -- just with a few adjustments.