Waiting (Part 2)

We are officially waiting on God's timing for Future Baby #2.  We are finished with our homestudy and to the point where every time the phone rings, I lose my breath for a second.  It's a crazy place to be.  It could be tomorrow or months from now, but at some point we will get a phone call that will change our family's lives!  It's a scary place to be.  You never know what will happen, and if we might have our heart's broken.  But I'm so happy that we have a faithful Father who will never give us more than we can handle.  Every day is a day of grace.  Adopting Jordan was worth the risk, and we know that when we get #2, we will be able to look back and see God's perfect timing in our lives and our family. 

Fun With Family!

This week, Blake's older brother and his family have been in Oklahoma.  They live in Seattle, so whenever they come to Okie-land they like to soak as much as they can in.  We've been to the Braum's Farm to take a tour, visited the zoo, ate at Pops, and visited the Round Barn in Arcadia.  We also had family pictures taken and are still anxiously waiting to see them!  Here are some pictures from our time with them:

 

Jordan enjoying the view!

 

The Caped Crusader!

 

The cousins meet again after a long 5 minute car ride apart!

 

Eating at Pops!

 

Zoo time!

 

Riding in style!

 

They let the animals visit the zoo!

 

Fascinated!

 

We still have another week of fun to go.  It's hard to imagine what else we're going to accomplish this week!  The nice thing is that Jordan is so tired that his naps have been very, very long!

 

Jordan's First Birthday!

 

It is hard to believe that our sweet boy is one!  He turned one on Thursday and it was a celebration-filled two days.  On Thursday we spent time with Jordan's friend Brielle and then his great grandparents came by.  The afternoon was topped off by a visit from Aunt Abby!

 

Papa Bill is a baby magnet!

 

Then on Friday night we had a pirate party to celebrate!  The house was rocking with all of the pirates and vagabonds who showed up to party.

 

And Jordan got more toys than he knows what to do with...

 

He got to sample chocolate cake, which wasn't his favorite.

 

He actually preferred the plate!

 

Thanks to everyone for being a part of this special year in our lives!  We're hoping to add a sibling to the crew before too long.  (No news yet, just waiting!)

So Quick to Forget

This week Jordan has been so fussy.  The older he gets, the more it sounds like whining and fussing.  I find myself getting so impatient with him.  He can be playing by himself, perfectly content, and I leave the room for a minute and he gets upset.  It's getting harder and harder to tell if there's a real, physical reason that I can fix with a bottle or a diaper change, or if it's just him going through separation anxiety. 

Yesterday, I found myself getting more and more frustrated with the little guy.  I began speaking to him with my angry voice and saying things like "You're driving me crazy" and "All I want to do is a load of laundry without having to mess with you".  Yikes.  He's not even a year old and I'm already starting to become the angry mom I promised myself I wouldn't be.  It's amazing how quickly I've forgotten how long I waited for the chance to have a little guy tugging on my pants legs, wanting to be held.

I was reminded yesterday while I was changing Jordan's diaper and getting mad at him for fighting me, that a year ago at this time, we were praying for a little boy who was yet to be born and whether or not the Lord had set him aside to be ours.  I had all of the laundry done and my house was clean.  But I didn't have Jordan.  I wasn't a Mommy, which I had dreamed about for so long.  I was just a potential adoptive parent who had no idea what kind of blessings God had in store for me, through a tiny baby boy who was a surprise to everyone except his Creator. 

I'm thankful and humbled that God would choose me to be Jordan's Mom and then very patiently, watch me become ungrateful, and then gently remind me how much a gift having my sweet boy truly is.  Lord, help me to enjoy every minute I have with him, because in the blink of an eye, this time will be gone and I don't want to look back and remember how many loads of laundry I didn't get done and how often I got frustrated with the whining. Help me to take advantage of the opportunities You have given me to snuggle, and tickle, and stack blocks, and read books, and rock, and sing silly songs.  They are all precious little moments and I am truly, truly thankful for them.

Merry Christmas!

 

It was such a joy to celebrate the birth of Christ this year.  2012 has been such a special year for us, obviously because of our sweet Jordan.  The verse that the Lord had put in my heart for the season was "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."  John the Baptist proclaimed the Christ and we do the same when we celebrate Christmas.  I thought about this when I was putting lights on my tree and house.  And I thought about it every time I heard a song proclaiming the birth of Christ.  We are so blessed that He would come into this dark world to bring us the light of salvation.

 

So, how did we celebrate?  We spend four days with Blake's mom and the poor kid had to look at the gifts for long periods of time without tearing into them.  We saw this look alot!

 

And then this look!  He got alot of great toys.  They really are a blessing because he is really enjoying them.  They are a little more age-appropriate (poor kid was still playing with a rattle!) and a little more educational, too!

 

I got what I asked for last Christmas!  What a sweet blessing this boy has been to us!

Ten Months Old!!

 

Can you believe he is ten months old?  We're enjoying Christmas time.  Jordan is actually enjoying the tree without completely destroying it.  I can't leave him alone with it for too long...

 

This month he has acquired two bottom teeth and is very, very close to walking.  He is such a joy to us!

 

 

We have also been enjoying time with our international students from OU.  We said goodbye to two of them this week.  We were sad to see Ari (Turkey) and Lev (Peru) leave.  I hope they don't have too much culture shock going back to their home countries!

We Gotcha Jordan!

Tuesday, October 30 well forever be celebrated as Gotcha Day!  We had the privilege of going to court to finalize the adoption.  Jordan kept his hand up the whole time and really looked interested in what the lawyer and the judge were saying.  It was so special for our family!  We, of course, wished there were people who could have been there, but that's life and we wanted to celebrate our new family!

 

Even though we miss our family who isn't close, we are so blessed to have a church family who bless us in amazing ways.  One of our favorite ways is how they celebrate adoption.  So we threw a party and had Jordan's friends come and play with him.  He had a blast and we enjoyed getting to watch the kids love on him!

 

Here are some sweet kids who know a little about adoption:

 

 

Wrestling!

And finally, we got to enjoy Fall Festival at our church on Wednesday.  Jordan was Charlie Brown, which has been planned since he was born.  Isn't he a cute little Blockhead?? :)