Watch Cole Grow - Month 3

Things are finally settling in around here and I have two words for that: Praise God! Mark likes to quote Pinocchio and say about Cole, "He's a real boy!" as he now seems to exhibit much more characterics of a child his age - contentment, joy, patience to go along with the screaming, whining and crying.

We had Mark's parents in for Labor Day weekend and Cole did so great with them. They even babysat, took the kids to McD's and survived! It was a true turning point as he continues to show more patience and acceptance of others. Being out for weekly soccer practice has helped as well as continual stays in the church nursery.

We went for his 15 month checkup today and here are his current stats:

17 lbs 9 oz
28 1/4 inches

We are going to the pediatric opthamologist next to see about his eyes - they don't always stay together as you can see in the picture (he is wearing Nate's halloween costume in an attempt to make Nate want to try it on)...

Soccer!

Lucy is playing soccer this year for the first time and she loves it! She has had practice for several weeks and her first game was this past Saturday. I was so impressed with the attitude and effort of the girls - it was a lot of running and endurance for these 5 & 6 year olds!

The best part was watching both teams and coaches gather in the middle of the field to pray before the game. I just know this is going to be a great experience for our girlie and am excited to watch her grow!

She started out in defense near the goal. Here she is viewing the action at the other end of the field:



Watching & waiting:



Still waiting...



Hooray! Finally some action!

Month 2

So I'm a month behind already! Anyways, here is a picture and update of Cole back around August 8 (our two month anniversary of receiving him). We have a doc appointment on Wednesday so I'll add the month 3 update after that...



Cole started walking, grew his first tooth (one loner on the bottom) and babbles "mama" and "dada" but not necessarily at his parents. :) He weighed around 17 pounds & had his first visit to the zoo.

Book Review

I just finished reading the book Going Public by David and Kelli Pritchard. If you're a believer and your child is in or will attend public school, you should definitely read this book!

It shares from their family's personal experience how to equip and walk beside your child as he/she attends public school and maintains the Christian morals and values taught to him/her in the home.

This book is full of practical tips and advice plus personal testimonials and has inspired me to have a better attitude about Lucy's kindergarten experience! It was written very recently, although before the presidential election of 2008.
You can read more about it here.

Meanwhile...

I really enjoy reading blogs. I love reading about adoption stories, catching up on friends from college & beyond, saving money from all those coupon sites and have now found my newest addiction - the craft/project blog! It's been so fun to go from one to another and to see so many cute and inexpensive ideas. My favorites so far are 320 Sycamore, MADE, and Creative Little Daisy.

It's been such great "therapy" for me to be making stuff, to feel productive when there is so much I just can't do right now. Just wanted to showcase a few things...

I saw on this blog the inspiration for our new Backpack station. This is our hall closet at the top of the stairs that used to be your typical hall closet. I should have taken a "before" picture but I'm sure you get the idea. Coats, vacuum cleaner, random stuff on the shelf. Now we have this organized, pretty station to keep all the "stuff"! (I've also ordered the kids' names in vinyl lettering that I'll put above their hooks.)



This is not something I've made but I have received lots of comments lately about the labels I use on Cole's bottles & cups. My friend Mary Ellen sells them and you can click the link for Stuck on You on the right side of my blog. I got a set of labels shortly after Lucy was born and they have lasted this whole time and we used them in the beginning for sippy cups, snack cups, etc and now put them on her lunchbox, backpack, etc. Such a great, great product!



Also, I found this super easy tutorial here to make reusable snack bags. I was going through ziploc bags like crazy needing to pack snacks for two boys any time we go out and it was getting excessive (especially since we're so housebound and I can't get to the store that often to buy more). Now Lucy takes a snack to kindergarten every day and they have been perfect for that as well!



And lastly, I made my first article of clothing. I love to sew, even had a sewing business for a while, but have always been intimidated by clothes. So I found this tutorial and made Lucy a skirt! It's not perfect but it will work and it wasn't easy but I did it! My next challenge is to use an actual pattern. The teacher of the tutorial recommends making things out of old sheets from Goodwill so I have a cute one covered in wildflowers that I got for $2 just waiting to be a cute sundress. We'll see how it goes! (Lucy's skirt is made from a pillow sham I got there as well.)



Of course, it's very important that the skirt twirls...



Then I made a matching hairclip using this tutorial.


So I don't think I'm going to turn into a craft blog but it has been fun making all these things! And it's easier to show my mom (who answers all my sewing questions for me) the finished products this way!

Back to School

Lucy started kindergarten this week! She LOVES it so much which makes it easier on this sad mama who can see the next 13 years of her life flying by!



She only has 15 kids in her class and a new teacher who seems very sweet and organized. We debated back and forth about letting her ride the bus and in the end, we decided to give it a try. With two little boys that take for-ev-er to get in and out of the car, we thought it would be much simpler (especially once winter comes) to take advantage of the bus! Of course the first day the bus was super early and we almost missed it but I'm sure we'll get the hang of it.





I've also struggled with what method of schooling is best for our family. We always felt like public school would be a wonderful ministry opportunity but now that we're here, it concerns me to let go of Lucy this way. So needless to say, we'll be doing a lot of monitoring and praying and trusting God will show us each school year what He desires for the growth and discipleship of our kids.

2 months

Cole came home with us two months ago and although I'm not ready to begin the regular happy days of blogging yet, I did want to document this day. Yes, it's the 2 month anniversary of when we stepped off that plane and began this new adventure as a family of 5 but today is also the first day we had no screaming (from either Cole or me!). The first day where we enjoyed ourselves from morning to night! And although he did start to whine when I stood up once to put away laundry, something in me handled it differently.

I confessed openly recently that I have been shown that so much of my struggles this summer were not about Cole after all. Not about a grumpy, whiny child who would not be happy but instead, these trials and intense moments of frustration have been about me! In my arrogance, my expectations for having a 3rd child were extremely inaccurate and having thought myself to be a good mother, capable and patient, I now see my weaknesses overwhelming what little strengths I have.

But I can rejoice in this! 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 shows me that in my repentance & submission, I am now in a place of victory, ready to move forward in service of this adorable little boy who gives nothing in return.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

The difference in me today was submission to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to empower me to be the mother He has asked me to be! Now each day is going to be another opportunity to submit or to struggle and there may be days when I submit and still struggle. But I have hope again and that is power in itself.