. . . a glimpse into my heart.

I'd like to ask for prayer for us and Judah. Judah's 1st grade teacher informed us that he isn't doing well in math and maybe reading also. She is going to discuss this with Judah's reading teacher and together they'll talk to the principal about whether or not Judah should be in the 1st grade. There are pros and cons to pushing him back to kindergarten. After some discussion, Dave and I both agree that staying in the 1 st grade would be best even if he needs to repeat it next year. He is getting better at reading on a daily basis but if he goes back to K he won't be working on reading much at all. We're hoping that through the course of the year he'll start picking up on things quickly and make some progress. I'd rather him not repeat the first grade but I do think it's better then having to change classes mid-year and go back to kindergarten. Our parent/teacher conference meeting is Nov. 3rd. I assume she'll have discussed all of this with ...

So, I googled my name yesterday and found my old Live Journal . My last entry was January 1st 2006. I blogged fairly regularly for a whole year. It's so interesting to read about that year of our life. I started the blog right after I had my surgery on my right elbow and was out of work for awhile. I was just getting into watching Season 1 of 24. Dave went to Seattle for his buddy's wedding and Nicki Loomis and Melissa Cramer (now Meyer) kept me company. We blogged about our fun adventures living in Dubuque and what newly wed life was like. I look back with such fondness although when I read some of my entries, I remember some of the very difficult things we went through. We had a wonderful, solid marriage but we went through a lot together. The blog begins in IA with Dave attending Emmaus Bible College. Dave graduated, we moved all our belongings to CO, we moved into my parents basement, we spent the summer at camp on Whidbey Island as Staff Directors for our 2nd summer in a r...

It's hard to believe that I once held Liam in my arms and nursed him and rocked him. I will never forget when we found out I was pregnant with our Little Liam. We were at camp, Lakeside Bible Camp. We had only been "trying" for a couple months. I took the test at like 7am while Dave laid in bed. I sat on the floor next to the bed and showed Dave the positive test. We were ecstatic! We had to go to our staff meeting that morning and decided not to tell the staff yet. We just weren't sure who to tell and when. It was tough to keep it in. I ended up sharing our news with Melissa Cramer (now Meyer) who was serving at the camp that summer. What an exciting time in our lives! We went home to CO where we lived in my parents basement for a couple months until we moved into our first home. Liam's arrival was amazing! I will never forget the emotions and love I felt. Now Liam is a little artist. He lies in bed unable to sleep because he has an idea for a picture. I let him ...

Hi friends and Family. . . I sit down to blog and find that I tend to only think about negative things to complain about. Although some of these things are connected to being in Yakima they are by no means things that make me sad or unhappy about being here. SO, instead of blogging about my struggles I thought I would simply throw out a list of our prayer needs because prayer will have a much larger affect on these things then just complaining. 1) Liam. He's been struggling since a few weeks before leaving Grand Junction. He was sad about leaving friends, his preschool and our house. Since we got here he has been a roller coaster of emotions, over joyed one second and angry the next and sad the next. Night time is the toughest when he gets angry about stupid things just for the sake of throwing a fit. He gets angry and cries so much more then ever before. 2) My health. I have been so fatigued this past week. I sleep 9 to 10 hours at night and wake exhaustion. I have little energy t...

We've been here two weeks. We're feeling very settled and comfortable in our apartment. We have some chaos in our bed room until we get another dresser but otherwise we feel like the unpacking is done. It feels so good and over the past couple days we've started hanging pictures which makes it feel that much better. It's HOME! I got our third room organized and have a little scrap-booking area now. I can't wait to jump back in! We set up our treadmill in there too so we can get back into running.Our ants are gone now but we're nervous to put food (even though all well sealed) back in the pantry. They come out and don't even touch the ants traps. If they come back we'll have to try something new. We took a few pictures early on in the unpacking so you can get an idea of what it was like. This is the kitchen: This picture of the Living room is a few days in and is nothing compared to what it looked like when we first stepped in the apartment after the truc...

I haven't blogged in awhile and thought it was time for an update. Dave's job: Dave's last day at River of Life is May 31st, 17 days from now. We visited a church in Yakima, WA last weekend and really enjoyed our time and loved the people we met. God's been doing a lot this week and really stretching us on the trust we have in Him. More to come on this topic tomorrow! Gabriel: Our little man is FINALLY potty trained. He's been peeing in the toilet for a long long time now but was very stubborn when it can to pooping.It's probably been a good year since he woke from a nap or in the morning with a wet diaper. He has had great bladder control for so long that I thought we'd have this all said and done a lot sooner. But, now it's over. He's taking himself to the toilet and trying to wipe on his own and everything. Now, we have a ton of size 5 diapers left over. Oh well. Liam: Liam is still mourning the loss of our sweet dog Bailey who died a little over ...

Oh I love my boys. . .such a joy in my life. Judah is so full of life! He has a wonderful imagination and loves learning new things he's a sponge!! He loves looking through his Bible and praying. His heart is very soft. He loves to talk about things but is still learning how to communicate. Liam is such a funny boy. . . a little comedian really. He loves to act silly and make funny faces for the camera. He's very sensitive and cries easily over little things. He cried over me flushing a bug. :-) He likes to sit with me and be close. Gabriel. . .oh boy! He's a riot. Definitely the most challenging of all the boys but makes me laugh all the time! He LOVES to snuggle but it requires a blankie (any size), and his "Deedee" (stuffed elephant). Then there's Dave. He is the most amazing man! He knows how to show his love in so many ways and always makes me feel special. He's a servant and patient. He puts up with so much from me. He helps more around the house the...

We returned from Dave's 4 week sabbatical less then a week ago. It all feels so distant now and like we've been home for months. Judah starts kindergarten in 4 days. Am I ready? No. I need to do his school shopping but besides that it's hard for me to swallow the fact that I have a child old enough for kindergarten. Liam will be starting preschool a couple weeks after Judah starts. I will have 3 days with only two kids at home and two days with just Gabriel for a couple hours. It will be a good thing for me in a lot of ways. I think I will appreciate my boys a lot more and enjoy my time with them. It will also help me bond more with Gabriel and get more done in a day (cleaning, laundry, exercise, scrapbooking, etc.) So, over all I know that having two boys in school will be good for all of us. It's just a big adjustment for me to send the two off to school in someone else's hands. Our time away was good although we had bumps in the road throughout. We got a lot of q...

Life is moving quickly. It's Sunday afternoon and it feels as if yesterday was last Sunday. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks of having 3 boys at home. It's hard to believe it's already been a month since we first met Judah face to face. Time is flying by. It's good in a sense that the hard adustment stage is moving along and before we know it Judah will be turning 6. Life as a mother to 3 is getting a little easier as time goes on and I am not nearly as overwhelmed as I was those first two weeks. Things seemed to change over night (God helped me get clued into some things) and since then I am much more 'together'. I am still trying to keep up with the Beth Moore study but it's tough. I have a hard time getting to the homework. But I am going to keep pushing on because it's been so good for me and perfect timing in my life. I am thankful to the Lord for putting this in my path at such an appropriate time. He knows what I need and always offers it to me if I ask f...

So, we're home from Ethiopia with our 3rd and oldest son. It's not quite how I thought it would be although it's amazing to have our family all together. The trip was incredible but tiring and it was so nice to get home. For more details on the trip you can check out my adoption blog becoming5.blogspot.com. It's so strange to see our two bio, super white and blond boys with Judah who's so small for his age, so very dark and speaks a different language. It will take a while for us all to get used to our new normal. It's exciting to think about the future and when Judah knows more English how much easier this will be. It's tough right now since we're all getting to know each other but it's so good to know God's in charge and we're following His plan. The boys interact a little more every day. I know this means they fight more like brothers the better they know each other. :-) But it's good to see Judah try to talk and interact more. He was ...