August 30, 2008

Is My Baby Ready for Soccer or What?



So Miles starts his first sport in a few weeks and we are busy trying to get his attire ready! Or gear, whatever! LOL! He is so excited, we count down the days on his calendar. We found him some shin guards, they are so tiny! So here is my baby posing for Sports Illustrated!

Can you tell who he gets his smile from? Lol, he's overly excited, just like his Mama!

August 24, 2008

Our Family is Back Together!

So daddy made it to Missouri last Monday afternoon and Miles was ecstatic! So our family is back together, not yet complete, but the current family is happy here in southwest Missouri and especially love our little town of Willard. We believe we have found a church, North Point Church.We plan to attend a newcomers dinner and an expo night for the different ministries to get involved in. Elisa is interested in the teens and high schoolers, and Brandon is thinking about ushering. We can't wait to get involved in this church and become a family with them.
Elisa and Miles have met some great friends in our weekly prayer group. We alternate houses for lunch every week and eat delicious food prepared by all the mommies! Most of the children are going to be Marley's age, so she already has a playgroup! Yeah!
Miles started preschool at Christian Schools of Springfield for two days a week. They teach the ABEKA homeschool curiculum, which I love and am delighted that he will have school time AND play time. I'm finding that having an only child preschooler is hard. I feel like he needs brothers and sisters bad! Yes, I said brothers and sisters...lol! We are starting out with little Marley, but who knows where God will lead us after her!
Brandon doesn't have to be at work for a few weeks so we are going to be building an AWESOME organic vegetable garden and doing some landscaping and painting.
There are so many things to do here in Springfield and Willard. Miles will start soccer in a few weeks and we try to bike daily on the wonderful trails throughout our new town. We want to eventually build up our endurance to bike one of the many 25-35 mile bike ride events they have all the time. I promise to take pictures of the farmers market that I frequent every week that has TWO organic farmers and one that sells meat!
During our move and the unbelievable things God has done in our lives over the last few months, we have learned, unlike our last move, that we are responsible for our own spiritual growth. Which is something we are both working on right now. We have felt the amazing favor of God in our lives with our move, renting a house, buying a second house, living in a beautiful family friendly town, finding a new church so soon, finding some of the BEST friends so soon and His hand in our adoption. We, as believers tend to rely on our church building or pastors to grow us and I am SOOO guilty of this. But part of growing in your faith means understanding how to grow and accepting responsibility. So today I was brought to:

1 Timothy 4: 7b-8 "train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

So in this transition time in our lives, we are working on training ourselves to grow, of course with the help of attending a church and fellowshipping with other believers. But this time is different. We want to make ourselves more accountable for moving to the next step. We want to be examples of great Christians. We want people to see the difference God has had on our lives and help them get there.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

Brandon and I aren't perfect and just like Steve Harvey stays "He ain't through with me yet!" But we are trying to live by the above verse and not conform to the traditions, patterns, worldliness and selfishness of our world, but we want to be transformed and renew our mind all for His glory.
I'll be reading Beth Moores new bible study, "Stepping Up" for anyone that wants to join me! We've also commited to 30 minutes of "God Time" daily.

As for the Adoption:
I know many of you are wondering what's going on. Well as we have mentioned before. Their are only 15 families ahead of use asking for the same age and sex. In June, there were about 12 referrals of children and none really since. It's probably due to the court closure in Ethiopia for the rainy season. We are trusting God and knowing that our daughter is there already and that He and the many people that love her are caring for her. For those of you familiar with our prayer list, many have been answered, we thank you for your prayers. We are still praying for a referral of our daughter, a court date and travel before December 31st of 2008. It's actually VERY possible, we just need to rain referrals really soon! There are many many other adoptive parents that have been waiting much longer than us and I pray that these children get matched really soon and get to be with their forever families as soon as possible. Our adoption is almost funded. Brandon sold his mustang and we were able to put 90% of that money away and give the rest to our agency for humanitarian aid. Ethiopia is going through a very tough famine right now and if you can help, like Christ calls us to, your help could save a life! Please consider sponsoring a child.

August 9, 2008

Have I Mentioned that I LOVE my New Town?





Today was the YMCA Dream Big in the Park. Baisically, they had several booths set up for the kids and parents to see all that the Y and the programs they have and opportunities in the community. Miles had a blast with the instruments set up and here are a few pictures.

Adoption Update: This is not one...lol! Just waiting. There have not been referrals for our agency in about 6 weeks, and I'm sure it's because they are trying to get the families that are traveling before and during the court closure taken care of. Hopefully soon!

August 8, 2008

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...


So this is the wetlands that are behind our back yard, or should I say, are part of our back yard. This is what we see when we go out on our deck in our back yard. Well this evening is soooo beautiful, I had to share it with y'all. The crickets and birds are chirping,the weather is about 72 degrees and will drop to 62 degrees tonight!!!

So that is why we have the WINDOWS OPEN in August!!! Just ignore our laundry, I refuse to connect the dryer, I'm waiting on Brandon....lol!


This is my beloved orchid! I have been wanting one for a very long time, and waited until we moved to avoid having to move with a flower...lol! She was on sale and her name is Ophelia...lol! Some of you will get that! Also notice my new kitchen curtains I just made today, and the paint samples behind Ophelia, I'm changing the kitchen to a buttercream, and I think I'm going to be bold and border the top part of the wall with a thick chocolate stripe? Did you notice the window open...lol, don't be jealous!
This is another reason that it's a BEAUTIFUL day....My new friend Cricut! For my scrapbooking friends out there, this is an essential tool to scrapbooking and I've wanted one forever. But.....they are like $200 new, and that's after they have dropped the price. Well I found this one on ebay for $50!!! HOLY COW! I finally got one and CHEAP!

So Miles and I have been having "school time" and have been working on letters, following directions, cutting, days of the week, months of the year, and counting to 50. So a lot has been on MY calendar lately, that I decided we needed to make Miles a calendar so that he can keep track of when Daddy is coming home, his play dates and most importantly when he starts playing soccer! Yes, my baby's first sport! It's offered right here in the little town of Willard! I love it here! So here is his calendar...

August 6, 2008

One Week Down!

Well we have been in our home for one week now and I can honestly say, everythings in it's place. Minus a few manly things. Our dryer is a 3 prong and the wall is a 4 prong, so I'm line drying our clothes on the deck. I've been saying I'm going hippy, green or whatever you want to call it. My birthday's coming up, y'all could send me a washboard! LOL!
We've met some really cool people so far, thanks to my friend Audrey, who hooked me up with one of her friends. We are trying another church this weekend, I can't wait to find one! I have a lunch date with another ET adoptive family that are getting their son in aobut 6 weeks. A REAL LIFE ETHIOPIAN BABY!!! It will be my first real life ET baby to see in person. I stalk blogs all day, but wow, and they live really close to us. Hopefully Marley will be coming home soon too.
Adoption News: Nothing right now. Courts are closed until October, but referrals can still come in, we are hoping they do. Honestly, I'm starting to see a bit of God's timing. During this move and transtitions, have not had much time to focus on Marley's room, hair bows or petty coats. I'm gonna have to focus on getting settled in and in a routine before I can really realize that we are about to have another child! Miles has been asking about a baby in our house lately. We haven't really talked much about it to him, other than some babies come from tummies and some come from airplanes...lol. I know, I need a better explanasion, any advice is welcome!
Looks like Miles will be starting his first organized sport...soccer. The town we live in has a non=competitive league for his age to teach him about organized sports, so itlooks like a go.

August 3, 2008

WE ARE IN MISSOURI!!!






Well we finaly made it here on Wednesday afternoon and the movers came on Thursday afternoon and I got internet and cable (or not so cable) on Friday. I am proud to say that my house all unpacked! The garage, that's another story...I'm saving it for Brandon. But the house is all in order and I cooked my first meal tonight, Spaghetti and asian green beans from the farmers market....WHICH I LOVE! They have it two miles up the road and they have two organic farmers and one who sells meat!!!!!!!!! For those of you who know me, THIS IS HUGE! I was so worried about where I was going to find my organic products and I settled and went shopping at Walmart and the next day I found this Farmers Market and fell in love! Anyways.....lol!

So here are some pictures of our 5 week adventure of staying with friends and family...