Sponsorship

I want to share today about something that is soooo important and something that in the grand scheme of things is inexpensive with such a great return!

SPONSORSHIP

These children get an opportunity at healthcare, school, food, and clothing because of sponsorship. They get cards, letters, gifts that make them feel remembered and loved. They get to hear the good word of Jesus and why he came to die for us and how much he loves them and wants to know them personally, that they are not forgotten. A lot of times the impact doesn't stop on just the child, it can affect the family unit and the community as a whole. 

It matters. They matter. 

I have a picture of our sponsored child on a bulletin board by my computer where I see and think of her everyday. I pray for her and we send her emails and try to send her goodies once or twice a year. She gets a card from us for all holidays and her bday. We sponsor through World Vision after seeing their video and hearing their message at a Women of Faith event a few years ago. I love that I was able to go in pick a birth date (we picked our anniversary date) and a list of children with that date came up for us. They have an easy email system now so you can send pictures and notes to your children that way. They send yearly updates and I look forward to that.

I love World Vision but I also know of other sponsorship programs that are doing amazing things through different communities all over the world. There are so many children that need us to step up and help them. Here are some other sponsorship resources: 

Compassion International
Sixty Feet
Children's Hope Chest

A lot goes around about how we can prevent children leaving their families due to poverty, how we can keep families together, I believe in child sponsorship as a way to keep families together. To love them from afar, to let them know they are not forgotten! 

Preschool...already??

Today I registered my girl for preschool....as in she will put a backpack on and I will leave her with classmates and a teacher for a few hours a couple days a week. I am so incredibly excited for her, this program will be great it's faith based and she will get to make friends and work on her social skills and learn more than we can teach her in between meals, bath time and our jobs outside the home.

It's also a reminder that this time goes so fast, that these kids that God blessed me with they are HIS, I need to trust and learn to let go a tiny bit at a time. I need to pour into them and the best way I know to do that is to let others help, I am not a mom who can home school and be with them at all hours of the day but that I need to trust the people God puts in our lives to help me build up these little ones.

That's hard to admit sometimes, that you can't do it all but it's so freeing. My sweet girl will get to grow alongside other kids this next school year and I can't wait to hear all about her days. I can't wait to see her projects she creates and get to watch her make friends.

My mamma heart hurts just a tiny bit with my youngest turning a year and our oldest starting school but what a blessing to provide for these two lives to love them and be their safe place. I will be happy being their home base, the arms they fall into at the end of the day and the voice that will build them up constantly and telling them they can do whatever they set their mind to. That we are blessed to have a Father who is helping us through this thing called life, even the hard moments of dropping off my baby at her first day of preschool.

11 Months

Garrett,

Sweet guy you are 11 months old and I'm trying to come to grips with you growing and almost being the big ONE. You are so rotten and full of personality these days. We have mastered a few things in the last month or so. Here we go:

Tantrums - throw your head on floor kind of tantrums
Standing - on your own for a few seconds/minutes
Cruising - along furniture or people
Sippy Cup - oooh yeah bring on the apple juice and whole milk
Teething - more teeth bring our grand total to 9 through the skin and I think I see another
Talking on the phone - or anything that looks like a phone to you
Baths - no more baby seat
Big Boy car seats - daddy got rid of the last of the baby seats 

You are in 12 months clothes, 3's diapers, 3 bottles a day, real food w/some baby food in the mix for fun but you like the real stuff, you don't like tomatoes or cheerios. Sleeping is getting better but you are still picky about where you nap.

You are so stinkin cute and bring joy to all of us everyday. You are learning and growing and discovering all the time and I love watching you from afar or sometimes not so far because you are a mama's boy.

I love you sweet man and these last 11 months have been such a fun ride with you. Let's plan a bday party!!

love you baby,
Mommy

Peace out sticker pictures he is over it!

A week I want to remember forever

My handsome husband and I just celebrated 5 years of marriage last week. June 20th to be exact. 5 years since the best day of my life, I mostly remember a smile that never left my face all day long except to fight back the tears as I walked down the aisle to my husband on my dad's arm. It was a day that will forever live in my memory as magical and full of love!

This year we celebrated by taking a week long vacation to Cabo San Lucas. We took a small honeymoon, drove down to Gulf Shores and promised ourselves that on our 5 year wedding anniversary we would take a big trip, no matter what stage we were at in our lives. We did it, could we afford it probably not and if Dave Ramsey found out what we did to get there he would scold us both.

It was way way worth it. I have never had a week of complete relaxation, my brain shut off, no thoughts of new house projects or work or preparing a bottle to take upstairs for early morning/middle of the night feedings. It was exactly what we needed. It was exactly what our marriage needed and as parents what we needed. I think it's important for our kids to know we work hard and take time for our marriage and we enjoy each other even in the midst of the crazy lives we live. They need to see us love each other to learn what it's like to be a wife or a husband and how to take care of each other because we fail a lot but it's so worth it to take that time away and refocus.

We sat at the pool under our umbrella or floating in the pool with the waves crashing every few minutes on the beach behind us. We drank fruity drinks and ate fantastic meals. We slept in a comfy king size bed with black out curtains and no alarm. We went into town one day to explore the marina area hand in hand and eat at another resort overlooking the water and the boats out for sunset cruises.

Everything about it was PERFECT, most importantly my traveling partner. My husband of 5 years and many more to come. I'm proud of us for what we have accomplished and fought through in 5 years, I never knew our life would look like this only 5 years out but God did and he is big on the details. Good Good Solid sometimes Hard details, he is in them all and I can't wait to see where we end up on our 10 year anniversary.

Love you sweet husband and thanks for putting up with all my crazy!!

10 Months

Garrett (G-Money as your dad and sister call you)

You are 10 months old and once again felt like such a big month for you. You are crawling like a machine, there is no stopping you now. I have a shadow most days following me from room to room. You love getting yourself stuck in corners or under tables. You also try and pull yourself up on things often.

You have actually had multiple nights a week where you sleep all the way through for 12+ hours and that makes me and your daddy very very happy.

You have these amazing little baby curls that have started showing themselves as your hair is getting longer and lighter. I love them :)

You talk more and more everyday but still no "mama" I keep trying to get you to say it but no luck yet.

You have some nicknames, bubbers, bugga, G-money and G-baby but I call you bubbers mostly, why is that?? Moms with boys why do we call them this?? I don't know but I love it. 

You are still such a sweet and squishy baby of mine, I just love rocking you to sleep with your bottle, I am so glad you still enjoy that and make me stop what I'm doing in the evenings to take that time before you go down for the night. It's my favorite with you.

Love you sweet boy,
Mommy

Families for Orphans makes me really really happy

I just need to share that this week I have watched two adoptive mamma's take one more step towards bringing their children home through International adoption and I could not be happier for them and for their children.

There is a lot of talk and discussion going on right now regarding adoption ethics and how we can care for the orphan outside of adoption because adoption is not the only way to do this. Many children are unadoptable and many children still have family that could care for them given a better set of circumstances. I am ALL FOR THIS but I also can't help but take a moment to step away from that messy conversation and focus on the real life joining of children with their families. Every child deserves to go to bed with a story, a kiss goodnight, fuzzy blankets and nightlights :)

Congratulations to these two mamma's.

Alison - just got their referral for their sweet girl after 3 years! There have been many prayers said for this sweet family and their little girl and I cannot wait to watch this last leg of the journey home unfold for them.

Andrea - is in China RIGHT NOW to bring their sweet son Zeke home.

This is real life people, fighting through the messy and the loss of adoption and finding the joy and the redemption in it. Makes me feel good and gives me hope for our own journey one day.

The Pug who Dug in the Trash

So this past weekend was a lot of fun and then Monday morning came and it took a turn for the worse for our little pug Ellie Mae. (She is almost 9, I have had her since college, she and I go back before I dated Matt and before I even knew I wanted to be a mom)

She likes to dig in the trash at a certain time of month (I will leave it there, ladies you get my drift) and unfortunately Friday afternoon while we were out of the house for work we came home to signs of multiple bouts of sickness from her. We decided to give it 48 hours in case it was just a bug in her system. Monday morning came around and she looked frail and pale (she's getting gray but she was white and her skin in her ears was white) we knew it was bad so I took her to the Emergency Vet, I usually try and stay away because they have to mark up their prices so much.

She had blood work and x-rays to identify what the problem was although I was pretty sure I knew by that time. She stayed there and had surgery, I'm glad we decided to do it then because it was a lot more extensive then they though having to go into the stomach and into the intestine. I thought I would get to pick her up and bring her home Tuesday morning but they made me take her to our regular vet for fluids and observation. She was so sad when I picked her up that morning, it was breaking my heart I just wanted to stay home from work and hope the vet let me stay in the back with her.

She got to come home Tuesday night and although she's still kind of slow, she's on a special diet for a week and multiple meds a day she seemed much more herself. She even went straight for the highchair to see if there were crumbs underneath. It's going to be hard to keep her on her special diet.

We have always said our dogs are just that...dogs and in the end we would not dump money into a chronic illness especially now that we have children but luckily this was a one time deal (I went out and bough trash cans with lids) and now she will have a chance to heal and give us a few more obnoxious and love filled years.

Oh the joys of dog ownership.

home and resting finally