18 weeks old...

So much to update on, so I may just have to write a few separate posts.  I'll start with the most recent...

Yesterday was a Tuesday, which means we celebrated Gabriel turning 18 weeks old!!  Seriously, I just can't believe how quickly the time has flown!  We truly have just tried to eat up every single moment with this precious gift we've been given in our son!  He is SUCH a joy!  A little update on what all he is up to these days...

He has rolled over twice from his tummy to his back (it's kind of like a "been there done that" attitude with him.  I'm sure he'll start going it more any day now though.

*He still loves being on his belly, but he also really enjoys laying on his back now on his activity mat and pulling on the toys that hang down.  He can grab them all the way from the top of the toy bar and pull them down towards him! 





He enjoys being in his bouncy seat and playing what his big sissy refers to as "hit the boom."  It's basically just where he swats at the toys on his bouncy seat toy bar.  It's so sweet to watch Lucy play with him:)



He's moved up to about 5-6 oz now at each feeding and he is definitely growing!  He is around 16 pounds now and is pretty much in size 6-9 month clothes already!

He loves sitting in my lap!  He likes to "help" me practice the piano, and when he's fussy that is one way to get him to calm down.  (As you can imagine, that totally thrills my heart!)

He's absolutely CRAZY about his daddy!  DH can get him to smile and laugh like no one else!

Speaking of laughing, he is doing a lot more of that.  His sweet noises melt our hearts!

He absolutely HATES being still in his carseat.  Picking up sissy from school is not the most pleasant experience as there is usually 10-15 minutes of waiting in line.

He is quite the cuddlebug!

Overall, he is just SUCH a good and content baby!  I call him my serious child, because he is quite contemplative, but when he smiles, it's with his whole face!

He slept through the night last night and woke up in the best mood today!  Come to think of it, mommy was in a pretty good mood, too! LOL:)
...

He turned 4 months old on the 26th, and yesterday we had our 4th post placement visit with our caseworker. We only have one visit left before our court date. I'm actually kind of sad about that-I always enjoy our visits with our caseworker. As I say this, I can't help but laugh at remembering how nervous I was about all of the interviews, home visit, etc. People often comment on how quickky/easily the process has gone for us, and while I am certainly thankful for it all, I promise you that easy is not a word that comes to mind! There's so much that I just haven't felt like I can share publicly on a blog. However, those aren't the things my heart dwells on or what comes to the forefront of my mind when I think of Gabriel and our adoption journey. The thing that consumes me each time I think of this whole process is total thankfulness-to our friends and family as they've come alongside us in so many ways, to our agency that has been just incredible, to our baby's precious birthmom who has give us the most amazing gift, and mostly to our God, who has orchestrated it all. So very many blessings are wrapped up inside this 18 week old bundle, and we are truly so very blessed!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my 4 month old and my 4 year old (for one more day anyway!)

I have nothing to declare!

I am HUGE Charlie Brown/Peanuts fan. I grew up watching the cartoons over and over. One of my favorites was "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown." He gets to go overseas for a foreign exchange student program, and I always laughed when he went through customs. He got so nervous and said, "I have nothing to declare!" Every time we've traveled overseas, I've felt the urge to proclaim the same statement, as I always get super nervous, too. I'm not sure why, but there's something about it all that makes me question myself. It's the same feeling I have gotten when we've had to get fingerprinted for our adoption process. I know that I have a totally clean slate, but there's that worry that if they look hard enough, maybe they'll come up with something! Lol. Yes, I realize it sounds ridiculous, but I think you all know by now that I tend to be a bit ridiculous in general:) So on Monday, I revisited that scene in the Charlie Brown movie as I marched myself into the sheriff's office with my fingerprinting cards in hands. This time was different though, because I didn't just have my fingerprinting cards in one hand, but I also had a sweet three month old in my hands. The last time we were fingerprinted, we had not even been approved for our adoption, and now here we are preparing to consummate our son's adoption. It's truly an amazing feeling! I won't lie-I still have those moments of fearing the uncertainties of the situation, but God has also filled me with such tremendous peace overall, so rather than live in fear of the unknown, I'm trying to live in the joy of the present, and as I look at my sweet baby boy each day, I am overwhelmed by what a gift he truly is!

After getting fingerprinted on 10/22--
 they do it the old fashioned way here,
so boy was it messy!

Can you tell we are a LOT more exhausted
in this set of fingerprinting pictures
than we were last time?  LOL

So where exactly are we in the process right now? We mailed in our documents (fingerprint cards, something we had to notarize, etc.) and funds to our lawyer on Monday (10/22/12) and now we wait (a familiar word to us in this process) to hear when our court date is set. We are praying that the judge will waive the six month waiting period and that we will be able to consummate Gabriel's adoption in the beginning of December. Please join us in praying that these left steps are smooth ones!

Family of FOUR!  Last time we went in the bank
to notarize something, it was just the three of us!

On a different note...can you believe that Gabriel is 17 WEEKS OLD?! He still hasn't rolled over any more, but he's getting more and more active-he loves playing with the toys hanging above his playmat and just in the last few days he's become very interested in the netting on his pack n play and rubs his hand back and forth on it for long periods at a time. It's pretty loud! There's also this one corner in the house that he finds hilarious. We cannot figure out why, but every time he looks in that direction he just starts smiling and even laughing-so fun! He absolutely hates sitting still in the car, so picking up sissy from school is a pretty miserable experience for him. But other than that, he continues to be a super content baby boy.

What a joy you are precious Gabriel Paul! We are looking forward to your gotcha' day!

sacked out after a long day in GP's favorite corner of the house

Flower Picking...

Lucy is such an intuitive little girl. She gets very concerned when she sees that people are upset or hurting, and the other day when I was sick was no different. Remember my not-so-grown-up reaction to my shot at the dr's office? Well, after the waterworks I entered our van where my little girl saw the tears streaming down my face. I love how she kept trying to brighten me up-such a sweetie! On the way home, this was our conversation:

Lucy: "Mommy, I was going to pick a pink flower for you at the church, but it had forns in it so I didn't."

Me: "Do you mean thorns?"

Lucy: "Yes, the pokey ones."

At the time, it definitely put a smile on my face, but as I reflected on it later, it also put a smile in my heart. You see, even my little Lucy recognized that often times, things that appear lovely and beautiful can contain the ability to hurt us or others. Lucy loves me, and she wanted to do something sweet for me, but once she realized that it could hurt me, she chose not to do it.

It reminded me of Matthew 7:9-11:
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

It also made me think of the things of this world. So many times, things entice us-they look good or fun or pretty, but if we take a deeper look, we see that they have the ability to harm us. Many people view Christianity as a bunch of rules, but God is merely trying to protect us from the things that could cause us harm. He LOVES us, and so He doesn't want us to choose things that would bring pain to our lives or others'. One example: As a wife, it's often easy for me to want to do things my way, but the Bible calls me to be submissive. Having the control may seem enticing, but if I don't submit to my husband I enter a very dangerous pathway that can profoundly impact my marriage, which then impacts my children as well. Our choices have consequences, and while we are given the freedom of choice, that doesn't mean we always choose the RIGHT choice. As a mom, it's my job to guide my children down the right path, and I do that by leading by example. It is my prayer that I lead them straight to the feet of Jesus!

So yes, little Lucy, watch out for those pretty flowers along life's path that may have thorns sticking out of them, and always seek to bring people good and not harm...

Lucy loving on me while I was sick (Yes, I realize this is probably why when one of us gets sick, the rest follow suit.  We can't help but love on each other though!:)

You are what you eat...

We've recently been dealing with a very picky four year old where food is concerned.  She used to be an amazing eater--loved fruits and veggies (you'll notice in many pictures of her when she was a baby that her nose was orange because of all of the carrots and sweet potatoes she would eat:) But somewhere along the road she decided to assert her freedom of choice, and lets just say that mealtime can often look more like a battlefield of wills in our household. I'm really not concerned about her going hungry-I know she will eventually eat if she's truly hungry. My main concern is I really don't want her to be so picky about what she does eat. When something is set in front of her, I want her to be gracious and thankful. It's more about the ATTITUDE behind her response to certain foods that concerns me, if that makes sense.

It's also "funny" to note: I remember practically having a panic attack over starting Lucy on solid foods. I was so concerned with the best way to go about introducing things, and I put a LOT of thought into it all...and yet here we are and none of that worrying did me a bit of good! Of course, when did worry EVER do us a bit of good??

Another funny sidenote: for "twin day" at school this week (spirit week for homecoming) Lucy and her friend Abby dressed up as chefs. I think that was also the day she hardly touched her lunch tray!  (See closing photo) :/

Anyway...so I was thinking about this whole food issue with Lucy the other morning and opened up one of my devotions. It centered around this verse:

Matthew 5:6
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

I had to stop and ask myself, what do I hunger and thirst after? What do I fill my plate with to bring me satisfaction? Do I yearn for the "junk" of this world, or do I crave what is good? As I seek to guide my daughter to make healthy choices in her physical diet, I pray that I can lead her in how to make healthy choices in her spiritual diet, too. After all, you know what they say: "You are what you eat." What are YOU filling yourself up with today??

Who needs a cape when you've got a burp cloth?

Sporting her "Piper Pride" before heading into school on 10/19/12

Today is one of those days that I find myself in awe of the husband God has blessed me with. Not that I haven't always thought he was a pretty amazing guy, but he just really stepped up to the plate for me when I desperately needed him to, and I'm so thankful!

I have this horrible sore throat right now. We're talking not just where I can't stand to swallow but where just breathing and even being awake hurts. My *highly nutritious* diet today has consisted of an iced coffee with skim milk around 9AM and a caramel moolate around 5pm. In other words: Coffee, milk and ice. Now, note that there are pretty much two no-fail indicators of me being really sick which are:

1) No appetite
2) Fever (even if it's lowgrade-i just very rarely run fever. you guys know me-I'm the girl who carries a sweater around during the summer!)

Well, I've had both of those:/ I'm also a huge weenie when it comes to certain remedies of the aforementioned sickness though, so there are a few other items on my checklist to consider when I'm sick, the number one being that I do NOT get shots. (Ask me my story from the Macomb ER sometime...) That being said, you know I feel awful if I agree to getting a shot. And this wasn't just ANY shot. We are talking the type where it felt like someone had made thick Elmer's glue (definitely name brand-not the puny cheap stuff! lol) into medicine form and forced it slowly into you. I actually started crying. I don't know if it was the fact that I felt so awful, the pain of the shot, or a combination of everything, but I literally cried. I think I made the nurse tear up a little, and the dr even came in and gave me a hug! LOL. I'm laughing about it all now because seriously, what 29+1 year old WOMAN cries over a shot? Yup, me I guess. I'm surprised they didn't offer me a lollipop and a sticker on my way out, but I guess I wasn't a brave enough patient for a prize! :-D

GP and Daddy before the pep rally on 10/19/12

But enough whining. The point of all of this is I'm REALLY sick, and if you're a mom, you've discovered the cold hard truth that mommies don't get sick days...UNLESS they happen to be married to one very amazing DH:-)

Gabriel and Daddy before the pep rally on 10/19/12

Fridays are DH's day off (tho he typically ends up working some anyway) and you want to guess how he spent it? By being super dad! *insert hero theme music* I did let him sleep in a bit this morning (since he let me sleep the ENTIRE night and was pretty much up all night with a baby who didn't want to sleep) but he happily took GP with him to the office, to the pep rally, picked up Lucy afterwards, entertained everyone while mommy slept, and he now has them at the homecoming game. No, my superhero doesn't wear a cape, but rather he proudly sports a diaper bag, a burp cloth, and a lap full of happy children. I am blessed and so thankful for him!

So next time you hear a cry for help and are looking for Clark Kent to make a quick change to his cape, don't be so quick to look past the man right next to you in your own home-you just might find him sporting a burp cloth and a baby and realize your hero has been there all along, no costume change needed:)

Now go cheer our PIPERS onto victory, guys while this momma gets some much-appreciated rest.

Lucy and Morgan at the Homecoming game

Lucy and Morgan "cheering" the Pipers on to a Homecoming victory!

Ten years ago...

Tomorrow marks a very important day in my life.  It really was a type of turning point for me, and within that day was a moment that I will never forget.  Exactly ten years ago on October 16th my best friend since junior high welcomed her precious baby boy into this world, and I was given the priviledge to stand by her side.  Along with Tara's mother, we "coached" her (ok, we probably annoyed her some, too!) through her labor as we anxiously awaited our first peak at a boy we were all so in love with already.  I even got to cut his umbilical cord!  (Okay, truth be known, I attempted to cute his umbilical cord, but that's an entirely different story!:-)  That moment was truly the most beautiful moment of my life up until that point, to see this precious and innocent life make his entrance into the world.  I have never experienced anything more beautiful than to see life truly be born.  It was a turning point for me in my Christian walk, because the reality of the beauty of life that God has created became so much more real to me.  To see the strength in my dear friend who carried him for nine months and chose to give him life, and to see him enter into that life was an absolutely priceless experience for me, and I'm so grateful I got to be a part of it.

I want to share two pictures with ya'll that represent the beauty of that moment to me--one that came from just moments after he was born, and one that came almost ten years later...

Here I am, holding Jessie just minutes after he was born...

And here is Jessie, almost ten years later, holding my baby boy...

I just can't help but sit back and smile when I look at both of those pictures.  They truly represent to me the beauty of life that God gifts us with!

Happy birthday, Jessie!  I pray you will always know what a special gift you are to all who are blessed to have you in their lives.  God has such a special plan for your life!