A Final Thanks

All week I kept thinking that I would post a few pics from our Thanksgiving break spent with my brother and parents, but every day seemed to come and go before I ever got around to it.  We had such a wonderful time!  Mat and I were thankful to have some time off work to enjoy with family.  MJ was completely spoiled with so many adults ready to entertain, love, and spoil him!  Here's a quick summary of our Thanksgiving thankfulness.  We are thankful for...



 Lots of time with Uncle Jeff.  We were so happy to have him for 10 days!  He was a great help with MJ a couple times that Mat and I had to both work, and MJ just loved playing with his uncle! 



A sweet little 20 month old who adores his family.



A beautiful mother, inside and out, who helped me in the kitchen.  We even wore our coordinating aprons to make it look official!





Enough delicious food to eat until we were stuffed!

Getting into the Christmas spirit by visiting the Festival of Trees with GiGi and PopPop.



Most importantly, time spent with family!  Family and friends are everything to us.  We look forward to seeing the rest of our family and many friends while home for Christmas in a couple more weeks. 



Giving Thanks

Well, my brother arrived Monday night and my parents are arriving later today.  The boys are all out right now, and I just took a pecan pie out of the oven.  I am enjoying the little bit of silence, but looking forward to the house being filled with family soon.  I know 6 people isn't a large crowd, but it's easy to cook for and and fit in our house.  :)  I have really enjoyed preparing for this Thanksgiving and am looking forward to doing some more cooking tonight and tomorrow.  I don't know what has gotten into me, but I have become much more domestic in the last 6 months or so.  I've even become getting into some crafting....COMPLETELY unlike me!  Here is my newest creation: 

I got this idea off of one of my new favorite blogs:  The Crafting Chicks.  They actually have some crafts that don't scare me away immediately.  I bought a 2x6 and Mat was nice enough to saw it into the blocks for me.  Then, I painted them, applied some scrapbook paper, cut out some letters, and tied them up with ribbon!  They fit perfectly right into my windowsill.

I have so much to be thankful for this year!  I hope that you all have a wonderful, safe, and healthy Thanksgiving this year.  Count your many blessings!  

20 months!

Well, I'm quite late on this post but better late than never.  I figure once MJ hits 2 years old, I will no longer due monthly pictures and updates.  I will still do them, but just not as frequently I imagine.  Just the words "20 months" seems nearly impossible.  I am amazed at what a little person he is turning into rather than a baby.  In the spirit of upcoming Thanksgiving, I decided to focus on some of the things that I am most thankful for at this stage and put a positive twist on even those terrible toddler behaviors:

 

• I am thankful for the kisses MJ is always eager to give.
• I am thankful for the cheerful way MJ waves "bye-bye" to everyone anytime we leave a store, restaurant, or church.
• I am thankful the way MJ pats me on the back as if he's saying "It will be okay, mom." 
• I am thankful for the way MJ wraps his arms around me and gives me a hug when I get him out of bed in the morning.
• I am thankful that MJ has not yet broken the head-scan thermometer that he insists on holding everytime I change his diapers.  Sounds strange, right?  Diaper changes are often a battle and it's the one thing I can seem to let him play with that occupies him long enough for me to change him.  Of course once he throws and breaks our fancy thermometer I am sure I will regret this choice. 
• I am thankful that MJ continues to have a love of books!
• I am thankful for blueberries.  They are the one healthy food that he still adores! 
• I am thankful for the few additioinal words MJ is learning to say.  He's starting to say "thank you" quite well and is working on "I love you."
• I am thankful that he has not yet gotten hurt too badly as he seems to be climbing all over everything.
• I am thankful that he hasn't even begun to try climbing out of his crib though.
• I am thankful for his amazing love of sleep!  He totally gets this from his mama! This child just sits in his crib wide awake after his nap sometimes before we even realize he's ready to get up.  He's still averaging about 12 hours at night and a 3-4 hour nap during the day. 
• I am thankful for the way he sits with his hands folded at the kitchen table while he waits for his plate.  Case in point:



This almost makes up for the many plates of food he has thrown on the floor!


• I am thankful that he seems to be understanding directions more and more.
• I am thankful that he knows right where his time-out spot is and will go there on his own after he's been naughty.  Not that he would ever do that! ha! 
• I am thankful for the little milk splatters his sippy cup leaves all over my furniture and the toys scattered around the living room floor because this means a little one lives in our home. 
• I am thankful that he says "yes" more often than he says "no."  Yes, unfortunately he recently conquered the word no, although he mostly just communicates it by shaking his head. 
• I am thankful that he absolutley adores his babysitter, just gives me a kiss and waves goodbye to me when I have to go to work and never cries a bit. 
• I am thankful that his winter coat he got last year for Xmas still fits him this year.  Although he's getting taller and taller he's remained pretty thin. 
• I am thankful that he's good on-the-go and likes to run errands with us.
• I am thankful that he likes to "help" me do laundry by putting clothes in and out of the dryer. 
• Without a doubt, most importantly I am thankful for the miracle of his life!  The love Mat and I both have for him is just overwhelming at times. 

19 Months has come and gone!

19 month pictures

Click above for pics from MJ's 19th month.  Be prepared, between Halloween and fall pics, there are quite a lot! 

MJ's Masterpiece

MJ experienced his first time fingerpainting last night.  I mixed together flour, water, and food coloring to make red, yellow, and blue fingerpaints.  At first he wasn't really sure about it.  He kept calling them "dip" (which he is obsessed with) and tasting the paints.  But after a little while, he warmed up to it and got into the fun part of making a messy masterpiece.  Can't wait for many more fun little projects like this to come!  ***For some reason, when I posted the videos it cuts some of the right side off and you can't even really see MJ.  If you click on the video though it will enlarge it and you can watch it through YouTube and actually see the little man!***  Anyone know how to fix this??

The Next Bend?

First, thank you to my friend Kelley for suggesting that the picture of MJ walking down the winding path be added to our title of this blog.  I hadn't even thought of it to be honest, and surely thought I had no clue how to figure out how to do something so fancy shmancy anyways, but thanks to good ol Google and a little troubleshooting, wah-lah!  Her words were so right.  Our path or road definitely continues to wind around many turns (doesn't everyones??), but now we are so blessed to have MJ join us on that path!  And honestly, because we have him, it makes even the tiniest of twists and turns all the better. 

This discussion comes at an appropriate time, because we are taking a step down a bit of a new road for us and hoping that it leads us in the right direction as a family.  Although it's hard to imagine being any happier with two children than we are with just our MJ, it's no secret that we (okay, well especially me) desire to add to our family.  It's funny because I remember praying to God just begging and pleading for a child.  During the time we were going through IVF and waiting to find out if in fact we were pregnant or not, I can vividly remember bargaining with God, "If you just give me this one thing, I will never ask for anything again."  Yea, I think that lasted for all of about 9 months until I had delivered MJ and was then begging and pleading for him to survive.  Then, I am sure I found something else to ask God for not long after.  I am sure God knows my heart better than my own, and knew my words were rather foolish way back then.  I'm human, I'm greedy, I want more.  In all honesty though, even though I do desire to have another child, the longing or pain is nothing like experienced the first time around.  I know that I have found love and happiness with MJ and that if it's meant to be just the three of us, I can be content with that.  BUT, my heart feels like it has more to give.  I would love for MJ to have a sibling one day; I feel like Mat and I can be good and faithful partners to each other and parents to another child still, and if it's meant to be, then I truly do desire that for our family. 

Having the two miscarriages has left me with lots of questions, some lingering sadness, and even some anger.  In my mind I never expected that I would conceive on my own.  As I went through my pregnancy with MJ, I treasured each moment fully expecting that it would most likely be the one and only time I would experience each sensation.  I had wrapped my mind and my heart around that reality.  Then to conceive was a shock.  MJ was only 9 months old at the time!  But after a couple days of an "OH MY GOSH!!" shock, then it was pure happiness and excitement.  As we know, it wasn't meant to be, but of course by then my heart had been opened to the idea of a second child and since then it's been something I have thought about regularly.  We have come to a point where we kind of need to decide what avenue is best for us.  We can just continue to keep trying on our own and hope for the best.  We can begin some further fertility testing once again and undergo IVF or possibly IUI.  Or, the third option is to adopt a child.  The easiest and least expensive idea is to just try on our own, and while we will continue to do so, we are ready to explore some other options in the mean time.  IVF is a possibility once again, but it is quite costly and always runs the risk of failing to conceive.  Adoption is something we considered prior to having MJ, but had never looked into too deeply.  

I set up a meeting with a local agency that handles three different types of adoption:  local, domestic, and international.  While the social worker we met with was a wealth of knowledge and answered so many questions for us, I left the meeting feeling a bit discouraged and hopeless.  It was clear that international adoption, although I think it is such a wonderful thing,  was something we were in no means able to do financially speaking.   Domestic adoption was also quite out of our reach in the near future.  Local adoption was the most realistic option of the three.  The price was similar to doing IVF again.  The social worker shared with us that in these cases though, nearly 75% of the birthmothers end up deciding to keep their baby right after they deliver.  Woah!!  I think I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after that statistic.  I knew it happened from time to time, but never imagined it was so often.  Hmmm...definitely something to think about. 

For several years, Mat and I have often discussed the idea of fostering to adopt through DCF or DHS (Division of Human Services) as it's called here in Iowa.  We have some good friends who have adopted two children in this manner, and I have a co-worker who has done so as well.  Mat and I have shared how great it would be to open our home to a child in need.  In fact, when we were living in Lakeland, we looked into it briefly but then we both began school again and it just wasn't the right time in our lives.  As with every situation there are pros and cons.  While fostering/adopting through DHS is practically free in terms of finances, there are more considerations to be taken into consideration such as adopting children with special needs, the reality that most foster children are reunited with their birthparents, most children waiting for adoption are school age, teenagers, or sibling groups, and the list goes on.  It's quite a sad system, which I am sure isn't shocking to anyone.  Our hearts kept being drawn to find out more, so I contacted the local DHS representative.  So, this Monday we actually attend our first Information Session.  We have completed our background checks, fingerprinting, etc.  If we like what we hear at the Information Session, we will begin a 10-week training course in January.  After the training course, we would complete a homestudy and become licensed foster parents. 

This will be a long road, and we are far from experts on any of this.  But, we are quite excited to learn more and see what it has in store for us.  We are hopeful that we can help a child in need while adding to our family.  I know it won't be easy.  If we do pursue it further, I fully expect that it will bring some sadness, some very hard situations, and quite possibly a lot of frustration.  We both have a lot of questions to ask, but we are feeling confident that this is the right step for our family at this time.  Please be in prayer as we turn down this new path.  Thanks as always for supporting our family with your positive thoughts, hopes, and prayers.  We are incredibly thankful!

Fantastic Fall!

I love everything about fall! I like slipping into a cozy sweatshirt, the crunch of leaves, watching football, making chili, pumpkins, beautiful colors, and so much more! We had quite a warm fall actually until quite recently. Even the leaves didn't seem to have near the beautiful brightness that they did last year. I think it was just too dry and warm. But the nice thing was being able to be outside a lot and have plenty of sunshine each day. In the last couple days it has turned much cooler and I think winter weather will be moving in before we know it! One of our favorite places during the fall is Eagle Point Park. We took lots of fall pics of MJ there last year, and I took him there recently to take some again this year. The colors didn't compare to last year, but it was cute to see MJ running through the leaves, exploring the mums, and climbing around on the jungle gym. I really loved this picture of him walking down the path!









I know I am probably one of those annoying moms that talks about my kid way too much, but I don't really care. I adore him, I love him, and these pictures melt this mama's heart. I just wanted to share and wish you each a wonderful last couple weeks of fall. I hope you can spend time with your own families and friends counting your many blessings as Thanksgiving season surrounds us.