Into Everything

Jordan's birthparents warned us that he would be high-energy and we believed them, especially after spending some quality time with them!  We find this kid in all of the places we try to keep him out of (see above where he got in between the recliners).  If anyone needs a babyproof tester, let us know and we'll lend you Jordan.

A part of Jordan's personality that we've discovered is that he is very determined.  He will go after the same thing over and over until he gets it or has a melt-down.  The problem is that once he gets something, he decides he wants something higher.  He's so funny to watch.  It will be fun to see how the Lord can use that perseverence in his life!

 

We have 6 adopted international students who hang out with us occaissionally.  On Thursday night we went to the Cleveland county fair with our 3 Chinese girls.  They had a blast and we had a blast.  But I think Jordan had the most fun!  He got to pet animals and gake in alot of new sights and sounds.  He is such a funny little guy!

 

 

Why Do We Doubt

One of my biggest struggles in life is dependence on self rather than God.  Well, this adoption process (from beginning to this point) has been slowly and surely beating that out of me.  The fact that Jordan survived the womb and is perfectly health is a miracle.  The fact that we were available to adopt him is a miracle, thanks to many closed doors that were so hard at a time.  The fact that we were chosen is clearly the Spirit's leading in the birthparents' hearts.  And the newest miracle is how we were able to pay for the adoption!

Two weeks ago, we were needing to pay off a $5000 bill so that we can finalize the adoption.  We definately didn't have that, so we asked people to be praying for us.  Within 24 hours, our church had given us $2000 from the adoption fund and the adoption agency, Deaconess, had given us a $3000 grant.  We were blown away by the Lord's provision and so excited to proceed. 

Then on Friday, just before were were supposed to leave for a trip, we discovered that we still owed $4800 for a hospital bill.  I was so frustrated, not because I didn't think God would provide, but we had thought we had finally made it.  I shared the request for people to pray, but didn't think about it much because we were so busy.  I kept thinking of ideas on how we could raise the money, but never felt a peace to proceed with those ideas.  This past Friday we got a call from the agency that someone had gone into their office and paid our entire bill!!!  I was at Homeland and could not stop the tears from flowing!  God's provision was perfect and He gave us exactly what we needed when we needed it.

It is ver humbling to be at a point where you cannot rely on yourself.  I pray that we would continue to look to the Lord for His provision because everything is from Him.  It's easy to forget that in our self-built worlds as Americans.  Lord, help me to trust you.

Another thing we learned through this is that just because you do believe that the Lord will provide, doesn't make it easy at the time.  You don't know where it's coming from so you just have to trust.  Over time, He has done it over and over again, so it gets easier, but it's still tough.

We thought this week would be pretty low-key but we ended up being busy!  Monday was Eden clinic, Tuesday was prison ministry, Wednesday I baby-sat for some friends, Thursday we met with our mentors and had dinner with our Turkish adopted international student.  And Friday, we got to go on a date, courtesy of our friends Curtis & Beth.  They have a sweet little boy a little older than Jordan, so it was fun to see pictures of them playing together.  I love this new phase of Jordan's where he loves to play with other kids or even just watch them!!

The attached picture is Jordan's first OU game day picture!  He was asleep by the time the game started, but it was still fun to hang out at home and just watch football all day!

Rewind!

Take a Deep Breath

Life is so busy!  How is this possible!

I'm hoping to post about our fun trip to Fort Worth to go to the car races, but I don't have all of the pictures with me.  For now, I will just mention that Blake is on his way to Haiti right now!  Be praying for him and his group serving the people there.  And pray for Jordan and I as we're home without him.  I'm so thankful that my sister Abby is living with us this summer.  She is such a help!

Ch ch ch changes!

One thing I've learned from being a Mommy is that no day is the same and no week is the same.  That's a hard pill to swallow sometimes, especially for a Type A routine-freak like myself.  Blake is pretty good at just going with the flow, but I really stress out sometimes.  I'm constantly telling myself to take a chill pill.  He's growing, happy, developing...and I'm stressing!

The week started great on Mother's Day.  It was such a joy to go to church and be able to celebrate motherhood with my mom cohorts.  One of my favorite moments was giving my friend Sommer a hug.  She and her husband really struggled to have kids and she was such a source of encouragement and joy during my struggles.  Her baby boy was born in November, so it was so fun to be able to celebrate the Lord's provision in our lives together!

Jordan got me a pair of earrings and a hat.  How thoughtful!

Our poor guy has been congested all week.  He is now acquainted with (and hates!) the snot-sucker.  He does everything he can to keep me from sticking that thing in his nose and it usually means I quit or accidently shove it in too hard, which just makes him madder.  Oh well.  It hasn't affected his mood, but it has affected his sleep.  He slept a few nights in the swing, which is just not as comfortable.  But for some reason, he does great in the day.  It's such a switch.  I've been enjoying 3-4 hours of sleep at a time at night and now we're down to 2-3.  It's such a change and it's been hard for me to adjust.  I really don't know if it's the congestion or if it's a new phase that we're going to work through.

Either way, I'm kind of hitting that 3 month mark that everyone tells me about.  It's the "my baby's not a newborn but still not sleeping like a bigger baby" stage.  It's a period where he's awake more during the day, which means less opportunity to get things done (and nap) during the day, but still not sleeping through the night (or in Jordan's case not even coming close).  I love the more awake during the day, but by the end of the day, we're both falling apart!  I can't complain, because he's such a good baby.  I just try to remind myself that he will only be 3 months old and 12 pounds, 5 ounces once in his life.  We can never go back!  I rejoice in the smiles and squeals and kicking feet and press on through the exhaustion!

Jordan got to see his Great-Granny and Great-Papa Bill yesterday who haven't seen him in a couple of months.  They got a kick out of him and he got a kick out of Granny's shirt and Papa Bill's silly noises.  He put on a smiling show for them, which I'm sure made the drive from Okmulgee worth it!

Three Month Blowout

Well, he did it.  He finally had a blowout!  This may be too much information, but Jordan had his first diaper blowout since he was one day old.  I won't give all the details, but we'll just say it was shocking and hilarious!  Poor kid!  And then he finished us off by peeing on the carpet.  Gotta love it!

Anyways, Jordan turned three months old on Monday.  It's hard to believe that he's so big.  He's still little for his age, but we got to visit a couple of friends who have brand-new babies and we really got to see how big he is.  He holds his head up, smiles, grabs toys, interacts, etc.  Those other little babies were cute, but made me glad that Jordan is where he is.  I've heard it just keeps getting better & better, too.

The other big news is that Jordan has a new room-mate.  My little sis Abby moved in yesterday.  We're excited to have her.  She's on summer vacation from OBU and since my parents have moved to Africa, Abby is living with us.  We're so grateful that the Lord has given us a home where she can have her own room and space to settle in.  I hope that she feels at home and I know that by the end of summer, she and Jordan will be attached at the hip!

We're excited to have the built-in babysitter.  Free room and board for a summer means the occaissional babysitting for her.  We're taking advantage of her today and going to Red Lobster to celebrate Mother's Day.  I'm really excited because it's been a couple of months since we left him with someone and were alone.  It's time!

I'm also posting pictures of Jordan's room.  There's more to it, but these are the highlights.  The pictures above his crib are ones that my Mom made me when I was a little kid.  And the paintings above the changing table were done by my cousin Karlea.  They are so beautiful and Jordan loves to look at them while he's hanging out there.

More Family Fun Pictures

This week was fairly uneventful.  We just finished cleaning up a bunch of branches from our yard and Blake took them to the dump.  It was the fifth (and hottest) free dump day in the spring.  We've been so busy that we just haven't had time on the weekends.  But it feels good.

I'm kind of ready for the spring weather to come back.  The heat makes Jordan cranky.  He likes to snuggle but hates to be hot, so he may have to choose one or the other.  Poor kiddo!

The pictures for this week are from last weekend.  We cleaned out Blake's mom's attic which is where we found all of her softball trophies and a fun Mexico get-up.

Jordan weighs eleven pounds, ten ounces.  He just keeps growing and growing!  Thankfully it's been at a steadier pace this week which means a little more time for me to be productive.  I finally got his room decorated and we made an art project, but I'll have to take pictures of those and post them next week.