One of the Wildest Weeks of Our Life

I've been wanting to publish right along with the experience of meeting Hannah for the first time and what this past week has been like, but between the emotional highs/lows of our first 2 days with Hannah, Isaiah's 2nd birthday party, the 48 hour flu (more like 5 days for Isaiah), ER visit doctors visits, and my brother-in-laws wedding....my energy level has hit a new low.
Thurs. - Meeting Hannah (we've added an 'h' to her name).
I thought I was prepared until the moment came. Then I was completely overwhelmed. The house was dark and cluttered and the t.v. was blaring, we were offered a seat on the couch while foster mom went to get her. Meanwhile we are sitting with our social worker and Hannah's social worker. Hannah walked into the room totally oblivious to us or anyone there, and it was clear that she saw this as her moment to explore a new unseen area of the house. Rob and I tried sitting on the floor and talking to her, but how much can you say to an 18 month old that doesn't talk yet? All the while, we were being watch (felt like scrutinized) by 2 social workers and a foster mom. No one else said anything, they just stared at us trying to interact with her in this crowed un-kid friendly environment. I pulled out some bubbles, and hit the jackpot. She loved them, but the crazy fans in the house made it near impossible for her to chase or follow them. This was so much more difficult than I had imagined, but for different reasons. Rob was much better at connecting with her, he was more physical with her and threw her around a bit (which she loved). I just couldn't love on this little girl the way I would have imagined I would have at the first meeting, when everyone was sitting there observing us and observing Hannah. I will never forget the intense awkwardness of that day, and was looking forward to the next day when Rob and I could take her to the park by ourselves.
Friday - Hannah to Ourselves
We picked up Hannah in the morning, and said we would only be a couple hours (to the disappointment of the foster mom)...we didn't know we could do longer than that or we certainly would have. But none the less, with lunches packed we headed for the nearest park. She didn't make a peep in the car, we talked and talked, but she just sat there and stared at us, then out the window and back and forth. She didn't seem scared, and she never shed a tear the entire day. In fact, I am certain she had lots of fun. She has some challenges walking in shoes (she doesn't need them, cause she mostly inside all day), and doesn't grasp the concept of going up stairs, I'm not even sure she's been on a swing before. But we all had a great time. Hannah is very loving and affectionate, right from the get go. She let me hold her and even put her arms up to me a couple times. We did more bubbles and had our lunch on a picnic blanket with some music, to which Hannah showed us how she can get her groove on. Bringing her back was tough, especially after foster mom just put her behind the fenced in play room and kept talking while she walked away leaving Hannah crying and reaching for someone to pick her back up again. As foster mom kept walking us outside and talking, I could hear Hannah continuing to cry softly. Then after a few minutes of treacherously listening to foster mom talk while Hannah cried, she stopped, to which foster mom said, 'see she stops after a little while.'

How are we going to do this? How, for the next couple weeks (YES YOU READ CORRECTLY), maybe MORE are we going to leave her back there every day?
Saturday
9 of our oak trees were trimmed and pruned creating a brush pile at least 30 yards long, 5 feet wide, and 6 feet high. Imagine a large tube shape of brush that obstructed the view of our entire house and our neighbors from the street . And after all that was cleared, the chipper chipped that big pile in like 40minutes, it was amazing. Well, we spent the day getting our yard ready for Isaiah's birthday party and gawking at the amazing pile of tree cuttings out of our yard. You would have thought we owned a forest or something.
Sunday - Isaiah Turns 2!
What a fun day for Isaiah. He spotted his cupcakes on the counter in the morning, and from then on he refused to eat anything throughout the day cause he was just waiting to get his hands on that cupcake. He was so excited! He had been asking for several days when his friends were coming over. Then he would proceed to ask me about each one by name, including all 4 cousins, and all the moms names as well. I.e., his buddy Eli....."Is Eli coming over?" "Yes Eli's coming," "And Jamie coming too?" "Yes Jamie's coming too." And on it would go.......
I had vowed never to do "character" themed birthday parties for a variety of reasons. However, for reasons out of my control, over the past year my son has began an obsession of sorts with the cars from the cars movie. Now, I admit it started to become rather endearing the way he knows like all 30 character names and pretends with them and keeps occupied with them for dozens of minutes on end. So I caved and I gave him a "Cars" themed birthday, to which he was totally thrilled about.
It was a blast of a day, and he couldn't have been more excited about having his friends over, and all of the commotion.
Until that night when both Rob and I came down with the most awful flu bug.....
after a trip to the ER, my mom and dad picking up Isaiah for us,...
That took us out of the picture until Wednesday
Wednesday - Our first full day with Hannah
We all went early Wednesday to pick up Hannah. Isaiah was very excited in the car, and kept asking about her. This was going to be his first time meeting her and we were very excited about that. He took to her right away, and when we showed up, Hannah was a bit apprehensive at first but she quickly took to us again and to him and his energy. The 2 ran around the playroom a bit at the foster home, while we let them warm up to each other. But we didn't want to spend any more time in that house than we needed to, so we made our way out. Hannah does great in the car, she doesn't fuss or make a peep. It's a nice balance from Isaiah who talks nonstop, but which will also prove good for Hannah as she learns to talk.
We made our way to the zoo as a first outing as a family. This didn't turn out to be the best thing for us because for some reason all the children in town decided to show up at the zoo that day....what was it bring 5 kids for free day??? Anyway, the zoo and adjacent park were oozing kids everywhere and it turned out to be quite overwhelming (more so for mommy than for the kids...I'm not used to keeping tabs on 2!). After some lunch at the park we made our way home for our first attempt at nap time with the 2 of them...in the same room....
It was a bit rough, but man, when I think of all the possible ways it could have been worse, in light of that, it went great! We read books, then mommy laid Hannah in her crib and Daddy took laid Isaiah down in his bed. She cried for a brief minute during which we overheard Isaiah say, "It's okay Hannah, it's okay." Talk about tugging on a mommy's heart. Wow!
They slept for 2 hours! Then we played the remainder of the day, had dinner together and made the long trek back to the foster home to bring Hannah back.
All in all Hannah's first day in our house went really well. She wandered around a lot checking everything out. She wasn't interested in the toys so much...but what I have since discovered is that no one has shown her how to play with toys. I talk more about that later.
Today we called Toddler Boot Camp!

More to come...with pics.

Tomorrow we meet our Daughter!

Wow! It's been 12 days since the last post, and as much as I've wanted to write an update, I haven't been able to put all of it down on "paper" due to the unpredictable nature of this whole process. What am I trying to say????
Well, a week ago today (last Wednesday), we met with the social worker as I had said before to learn more about this little girl. The meeting was amazing. I went into the meeting with pages of questions, but only had to ask a few because the social worker was thorough and gave us such a clear picture of what's has been going on in the life of this precious baby girl. By the end of the meeting, although we were encouraged not to make a decision right there, we 'tentatively' set up a date to meet her. Before we even walked out the of the building, neither Rob nor I had to even speak to each other, we already knew our answer. Just brief moments of eye contact between the 2 of us was enough to know that this was not only what God wanted for our family, but what we wanted as well.

So, after the obligatory 24 hours to "think" about it was over, I called our social worker, and said YES!!!!!

Without further adue, let me tell you a little about her, our future daughter!!! Hanna is 18 months old. She is from Sacramento, and has been living with a foster mom/dad since she left the hospital. We have seen a picture, and think she is just beautiful. Her mom is African American and her dad is Caucasian, giving her a very pretty mocha skin color with big brown eyes (just like Isaiah's) and dark curly hair. She is incredibly tall for her age, in fact although she is 6 months younger than Isaiah, she might be taller than he is!!! (If the myth about doubling a 2 year olds height will give you their adult height holds true.....she might be over 6ft!....wow!). None of the challenges she has faced and currently faces were things that we felt we couldn't deal with. She enjoys dolls and dancing (which scares this tom-boy mom a bit), making me excited to see the beautiful tenderness of a little girl grace this home.

Hanna is legally ready for adoption, which is really just an amazing hurdle that we don't have to first go through. Once she is in our home, we simply have to wait the 6 months waiting period before we can legalize it with the courts. Most of the time, families waiting to adopt children in the foster system, are also waiting for the courts to first terminate parental rights, meaning that the birth family will no longer have any legal rights with that child. This can be an excruciating process for all involved, because the court really does it's best to help 're-unify' the child with the birth parents, regardless sometimes of how interested the birth parents act. We don't have to go through any of that, Hanna is an orphan in the truest sense of the word and is ready and waiting for a family.

SOOOOOO.......the soonest time that we could arrange to meet her, after we gave our 'official' YES (a week ago), is tomorrow! We have had to wait an entire week from deciding yes, until the day we could meet her. And then it may be a couple weeks still before she can come home with us.
Are we nervous? I keep getting that question. Not really, not yet anyway. I think it feels a bit how it did just before our wedding. I wasn't nervous to marry Rob, I was most nervous about the event itself, the spiritual magnitude of it, the weight and importance of it, and even then not until the morning of. In that way, I'm not nervous about our decision or even about Hanna and meeting her. I am most nervous about the 'event' of it so to speak. To think that I will be meeting my daughter for the first time tomorrow, has such enormity to it, the spiritual magnitude of it, and importance of it. I don't' think my mind will even comprehend it fully until the moment (at which point all emotions are a go I am sure). It's strange to think that the enormity of the moment will be nothing more to her than just meeting some new people.

And beyond that, tomorrow begins the day that the coarse of one human life was changed.
God make us instruments of change for your glory, AMEN!

A Baby on the Horizon??!??!

Almost too much to catch up on already! But that said, time seems to have slowed to an almost unbearable rate this week.

Reason being....we have been chosen as a potential family for a little girl. To be brief, I know that many of you are curious maybe confused about that small detail of a girl, as we've been talking about a boy for over a year. However, something very crucial occurred to me, when God asked me a few weeks ago if I was willing to just be 'available,' and stop trying to control my circumstances. Please ask me more in person, as this is a bit more personal than i want to be here, but we are incredibly ecstatic about the possibility of a girl. I will give more details as we get closer to making a final decision. But for now and until next week when we have our disclosure meeting (a disclosure meeting is one in which the little girl's social worker and us will meet and essentially interview each other, and we will find out all about her history), keep us in your prayers that we will make the right decision for our family and for this little girl also. This has turned into more of an excruciating process than I ever dared imagine, and we haven't even hit the hard stuff yet. Not to be a discouraging to those of you out there that are hopefully considering this as well, but it certainly is producing patience in me if nothing else at this point, well and a reliance on God to set my coarse.

Okay, some new order of business:

I long ago finished "Tears of the Giraffe," and enjoyed it as much as the first in the series...fun read. I moved along to "A Thousand Splendid Suns, " and almost cried numerous times and was incredibly moved by the historical fiction that followed 2 woman through the last 30-40years of Afghanistan's history. What an incredible writer. I was turned onto him from his first book "The Kite Runner, " which was amazing. But this one was about women in the region (the author is from Afghanistan). I am always so impressed when a man author is able to so aptly describe a woman's soul. I love books that develop characters well over time, and this book did so very well for these 2 women. I highly recommend. And now, a deep dark secret to reveal: I am hooked on the Twilight series....never thought it would happen...but I just can't put them down. I'm almost finished with the 2nd book and I stared them on Sunday night...is that bad? She definitely has a way of hooking you with her anticipatory writing, (character development, not so much). I will be getting book 3 this afternoon, so that as soon as 2 is done I won't waste a minute moving right along. Such fun! I am appreciative of the distraction that this book is bringing me now as we wait anxiously to get more information about our possibly baby girl.

Happy Mother's Day! We had a lovely day. We picked up Isaiah from my mom and dad's on Sunday morning and went down to Nugget market for breakfast. It was something that Rob Isaiah and I would do every Saturday for quite some time. They have the BEST pastries...and coffee of coarse. Then we took a stroll along the water with our coffee and food, before packing back into the car and heading for the Crocker Art Museum. What a treat! Isaiah even fell asleep in the car so while Rob stayed with him, I got about 45 minutes of uninterrupted museum time! WEW HOOO! We even got a tour by the museum docent of the current exhibit of Maxfield Parrish. I know I'd heard his name, but was stunned to truly enjoy his work, although none of it was particularly familiar.

I would love to do a tribute to motherhood here, but feel like in my emotional exhausted state I would simply start crying over the weight of it, not do I feel like I have just the right words to give it justice. Being a mom is the single most amazing job in the world, hands down, no questions asked. It occurred to me even, while as a mom we got to be celebrated on this day, that I ought to be praising God instead of receiving any sort of praise. Praising Him for the gift of motherhood, for the opportunity afforded me to be a mom to the most incredible little boy, for allowing me the insight into the heart of God through the lessons I learn day to day alongside my baby, for the joy of watching him grow and learn and explore, for the simple and complex emotion that I feel when his little lips hit mine and the indescribable sweetness in the way he holds my hand. I feel at times I'm grasping at time as I watch him get ever bigger, BUT am thankful for every minute. Here is my precious the boy and I enjoying none other than the grass and a stick after our time at the museum.

And finally in my attempts to work backwards, here are a few pictures of our time at Prom on Saturday night. Yes your read correctly. We were chaperons for prom, and I had quite a bit of fun, from dressing up and buying new shoes (I was bummed when I realized that the bellow picture is the only one we took of us that night...and you can't see my cool shoes:() getting my hair done since I needed it cut anyway, and then enjoying watching the kids. It was so much fun seeing all the beautiful girls (and impossibly awkward boys) in their amazing dresses. Bohemian dresses, and large floral prints seem to be in style and they were just lovely.

Then afterwards I surprised Rob with a small date down memory lane. Even though it was already 11:30 when we left the Prom, at the car, I had packed some wine and wine glasses (and lemonade of coarse for Rob). The Prom was held at the college that we met at, so we took our wine and a blanket and headed out the grass lawn where we shared numerous college days laying around eating our lunch and planning the future. It was so much fun sitting out there late at night dreaming about the past talking about the future. The police slowly passed by us several times but never bother us. Our only concern was whether or not the sprinklers would turn on.

Rob, as the blackjack dealer.

Long time family friend and babysitter, Haley (her parents were the ones that ran in the race with us the previous weekend). Isn't she just beautiful?

Another great babysitter and fantastic girl Anna, crowned Junior princess! So cute huh?

Ahhh, and then there is Robbie, I met him when he was only 2....I was his babysitter, and his girlfriend Sara who is an incredible basketball player with offers just pouring in for her to play where ever her heart desires. Aren't they cute?

Monterey 2009

We spent an elongated weekend in Monterey last weekend. We try to go every year, and this year we added a big new element to our trip.

Day 1: We took Isaiah to see the tide pools. What an adventure, poor little sea anemones...getting squished but producing a zillion laughs.

(Can you see the seals on the rocks behind us? So Cool!)

Day 2: The Aquarium

We've been several times over the last couple years, but our favorite new discovery this time was this amazing sea horse! Yes, the next picture, although it appears to be fuzzy sea weed, is actually a sea horse. AMAZING. The variety of God's creatures is what keeps me coming back for more.

The children's play area was voted by far, the favorite place for Isaiah. What a kick. They really have an incredible place for toddlers and school age children to explore and let their imaginations take over. What a blast we all had. It was so fun to watch Isaiah learn, explore and just have fun with all the new things. It was much more fun coming with him than it would have been without him. You get to be excited all over again about the amazingness of our world.

Isaiah's "Baby Sea Water" that he got to pick out at the gift shop. He was hugging him and saying, "I wuv him." Ahhhhh, it made the outlandish amount of 6$ possibly worth it. Day 3: With Isaiah off with Mimi and Papa for the rest of the weekend, we got a little R&R to ourselves. This is the view just out from the place we stay at every year. This time of year was great for all the flowers, not so great for the weather. It was WAY to cold for me this weekend. I was a walking popsicle.


Our friends Steve and Darcy joined us for this portion of the weekend. We had a blast hanging out at Cannery Row, Carmel and just lounging around for the day.
Of coarse the big exciting news that prevailed the weekend for us, was the addition of Rob's new toy! The iphone....it is such an amazing gaget, it was tough to put it away sometimes, especially when there were sports stats and scores to look up...even while on the pier overlooking the water, the boys were hooked.

Day 4: The culmination of the weekend, and the big new event - The BIG SUR MARATHON! We relayed it of coarse with Steve and Darcy. The run took place on Hwy 1, which they shut down once a year for this race. It was pretty unique, being able to run on one of the most beautiful highways. We had to be at the bus at 4:15am and ready to go. Steve was leg one, and here I am coming up to Rob on leg 2, then Rob passed off to Darcy at the end. Our time was about 3 hours, 20 min (approx...i don't know our official time). I was absolutely freezing. I never run in a sweatshirt, but as you can see from this pic, I am the only one wearing one...and I didn't care how un-runner like I looked, I was COLD.

Once I finally caught my breath, I turned around to grab a pic of Rob taking off on his leg of the race. Behind him you can see the buses that they used to get all the runners to their appointed spots. It was quite the ordeal, and quite amazing when it was all said and done.

Okay, one of the best parts for me was the unexpected surprise of my friend Eunice. 2 teams of girls from my old job were formed and were participating in this race too. But the best part was that Eunice and I got to run the same leg. Then when we were done, we decided to keep walking just for kicks the next leg (which was 7 miles up hill). It was quite the adventure because at the last minute we realized that all the buses were leaving and we were minutes from being stranded on hwy 1. But we were saved by a short bus on the side of the road that had some extra seats. What a stinking blast riding back in that thing with some random people, and all the while everyone yelling out the window encouragements to the remaining runners.

This one's just for you Eunice, you silly girl.

A few pics of the view along the next 7 miles that I walked (and Rob ran).

Our killer relay team post-race and post-Chipotle!

Boys and Their Nakedness

All I asked Rob, on my way to work, was to let Isaiah have some time without a diaper to help clear up a small rash. This is what happened instead...FULL NAKED time in the front yard. But it made for some cute pictures, and some fun times apparently. :) Boys and their nakedness....I tell ya.

Life is more unpredictable than we'd like to admit

It's All about Perspective.... (Does anyone read these long ones?)

Like I said in a previous blog, although April was full of very cool and fun times, it was also full of some difficult moments. The pictures above are of a plane that crashed about a 100 yards from our house, into the front yard of another. Rob and I happened to be on a run when it took place. We were pointing out all the emergency vehicles to Isaiah as they wizzed by us on the Blvd....but then it became a bit scary. There were sooooo many of them, and by the time we got within a mile of the house we also noticed that they were in our neighborhood, and a news helicopter seemed to be circling our house. The plane that crashed was flown by a gentleman in his early 60's, and they are still unsure what happened, but it was unfortunately his last flight. My neighbors were outside when it happened, coming down right over their backyard, breaking off tree branches as it crashed and then exploded into a fire ball. All the men rushed out with garden hoses to put out the fire best they could. The pilot was obviously no longer in the plane (as you can see there was nothing left of it), and was pronounced at the scene. My heart was so heavy for this poor man and his family, and to wonder what his last thoughts were as he came down, and whether or not he really was attempting to avoid streets and houses as some were saying.

Just a week before that on a run with Rob, I was the only witness to an awful bike accident. The man was coming down the Blvd going about 30, and out of the blue he just flips and he and the bike do a couple hard summersaults. Then the man layed there motionless. It was across four lanes of traffic and we were kind of on a bluff, so while I stayed with Isaiah in the stroller, Rob ran over to him. The paramedics were there within about 8 minutes, as I finally made my way across the street. But the poor man was torn up and bleeding from head to toe, clothes shredded, clavicle busted...but neurologically intact...thank you Jesus. Those couple minutes of him not moving had me anxious.

That was the start of the weekend that I had to go to work. This particular weekend, I assisted the parents of my patient talk to Golden State Donor Services about organ donation for their baby girl (not much older than Isaiah), and then proceeded to assist the doctor in removing her from life support and getting her situated so that mom could hold her for the last time while she took her last breaths, all under the watchful eyes of the police....why the police had to stand there in those last moments, I'm still not sure but it will be a criminal case. I've changed my position a bit about end of life for children of abusive parents. I have a bit more compassion now for the situation than I used to. No matter what they did to cause the end for their children, in that last moment, I believe it's a sacred one. I attempt to give them every possible support (whatever that means) and at the same time the opportunity to hold and morn their child in private. No matter what they did, that to me is still a private moment. This particular case burned me up, because I never got a straight answer why the officer felt she needed to be there, and because she was there the social worker felt like she had to stay, and the doctor feeling the uncomfortability of the moment also stayed. My efforts to suggest privacy were ignored. It was a bit frustrating.

And finally my point about perspective. This past month I also had the privilege of caring for 2 teenage boys in their final days of cancer. Each had a different type of cancer, but each became aware of the finality of their days within a day of each other. Both boys are experiencing pain, both are experiencing their last days, and both are enduring the unthinkable...and yet it was amazing to go into each of their rooms and experience something all together different. One boys room leaves you feeling so helpless, sad, and frustrated. His room is depressing simply because the spirit there is heavy and dark. In one moment of weakness I saw into his fear and sadness over his situation, but beyond that he is closed to everyone as is his family...all dealing with the impending death such heavy denial that it's burying them all.

The second boy was incredible! He already had experienced such intense pain in his early life, as he shared with me one afternoon, watching his parents meth addiction. Becoming adopted by his grandparents, and then as an early teen diagnosed with cancer. His room always carried the spirit of hope and life, carrying on the fight to the end. He shared with me the faith in Christ that he found, even though none of his family were "church goers." What an amazing young man. I felt privileged to have been his nurse (and apparently I made his top 5 nurse list :) But mostly I will always carry with me the memory of being able to pray with him and his family 2 days before he died. According to the next nurse, this was apparently the step it took for his family and friends to finally say their final prayers and good byes with him (like I said, he was a fighter to the end).

What I took away from that last month is what brings me around to perspective. What perspective do you carry in life? 2 boys, both with the same outcomes, but choosing to celebrate or not to celebrate and enjoy the life around them. Do you complain about a fussy child? A woman across the street struggling with infertility may just love to be in your shoes. Do you complain about working? Not just in this county, but around the work people would give their right arm to work (well then they wouldn't be very productive...hummm).

Rather, let me tell you about all the things I complain about and need to re-think.

I complain about work:

In the middle east, woman are not allowed to work in some places (even if they are widowed and have children to feed). In most countries woman work just to feed their families....My working provides "fluff" stuff, a comfortable life.

I complain about my husband:

I have a husband...for one....who loves me...and provides for our family....and loves our son...and is active and loves to do different things...and keeps my bed warm at night.

I complain about our crappy carpet (I want hard wood floors so bad):

I have a house; I have a house with floors, I don't have to live on the 9th floor of a commy-block building with no elevator and share a tiny apartment with my in-laws (I had dinner in Romania with such a family, and the 70 year old women had to climb those stairs every day, as did the mom with all the groceries...etc., oh and the apartment was the size of my living room).

I complain about being cold in the winter:

But I don't live in North Dakota.... or in some countries where electricity is only available during certain times of the day, even in cold winter(and although my sister lives in Hawaii, even she complains about the weather from time to time....)

I complain that meal times are such a struggle with Isaiah:

But not only is he healthy, he is not developmentally challenged needing to be fed or needing special food therapies, being fed through tubes (like i have to do for so many children at work...ugggg that liquid food smells so bad!).

Well, that's enough for now. I challenge you to take a minute and look at your complaints in life with perspective. How would others around the world, or just around the block see your position...? Like I said in the title, life is more unpredictbale than we'd like to admit. Family members get divorced, cancer, accidents happen, unexpected unemployment, but in the end how is your perspective. Are you positively impacting those around you with your perspective or otherwise? Life is so fragle...we are not immortal, however, "who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?" Stop worrying and live life with perspective.

BIG BOY BED

Isaiah's contemplative face in the bathtub just before the BIG MOVE!



This month (April) we made the big switch. Isaiah is now officially a "big boy," as assumed by the statement that he now has a "big boy" bed. I am so proud of him and how incredibly well he has done with it. He slept the whole first night without so much as a peep until the morning when he causually walked out of his room and opened the door to our room and said, "mommy sleeping?" Even nap times have gone on without a hitch. The only difficult night was night number 2, he had to learn the concept of not getting back out of bed, but ever since then he's been a champ. Just when we get to the door, he calls out from his bed, "nigh nigh mommy (or daddy)." First night of books in the new bed. Bedtime remains my FAVORITE time of the day. I love reading books and enjoying the few moments of cuddle time that he will afford me. His favorite books right now are, Are You My Mother?, any and all Curious George books (but he has George and the Dump Truck memorized...I am serious....stop at any word in the sentance and he will fill in the blank), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

First Night! Ahhhhh.....how cute! How he did not wake up when I took this pic is a miracle.

Easter finally

Whewwwww.....Did I get way behind. April flew by with so many fun events and unfortunate tragedies, I just couldn't keep up. So without further adu, I plan to catch up. Easter weekend was - well - BEAUTIFUL. Saturday we got some long awaited for - lake time (Look how full!).

Happy Belated Easter! FUN FUN FUN. Isaiah had a blast, but I think the excitement of the egg hunt was shadowed by the overwhelming excitement he experienced when he opened his Easter basket to find CARS (from the movie... he already has some mind you)! Lucky for us, we waited for the hunt to be over before giving him his basket. Even all the pictures of him going through his Easter basket are blurry cause he was moving so fast.

And then down to Mimi and Papa's for dinner and a second egg hunt. In his combined life time, I don't think Isaiah has had as much candy and he did that day. So much fun.

2 Fun New Isaiah Phrases:

2 Fun New Isaiah Phrases:

* This one is best told with a story. The other day the three of us were out at Costco, and Isaiah was walking around being silly when he backed up into a box, the corner of which hit his tush. Immediately, he turned around and started walking (waddling is more like it) backwards towards us, with his butt stuck out, saying very loudly, "Mommy kiss it!"


Any time there is an injury of any size sustained it is always followed by a mommy kiss it, and the magic of mommy's kiss has quite the amazing healing power. This still blows me away, I had no idea how effective this would be when I taught him.


* The other might otherwise be quite annoying if I didn't see the intentional development and need for it in his growing little mind. "What r' doing mommy?" or "what's he doing?" over and over and over maybe about the same task, 5 times in a row, or about other people, and about things that he knows perfectly well what they are doing. But he is working so hard on putting bigger sentences together so I am sure that part of it is giving him sentence structure about things that he can say and understand what's going on. Mommy's driving the car, mommy's cooking dinner, mommy's feeding the dog, mommy's cleaning the dishes or reading, or playing with Isaiah or....pick any number of a million tasks throughout the day, then he repeats it.

Apparently as a kid, I used to love that same expression....could that be genetic, or maybe just normal kid-speak. Loving this talking stage right now. In the picture below, Isaiah was using Thomas and Mac to have little conversations with each other. Let the imagination begin...Anyone have a good book on how to encourage/foster the imagination?

Birthday's, Soccer Games, and Memorable Moments

Another busy weekend! And no camera...:( ....I can't believe all weekend I kept forgetting my camera.

Happy Birthday Rachel!...another big 30th birthday party on Friday night was a blast. Greg surprised her with friends and family, and we had a really nice time, of coarse Isaiah was the life of the party with all those big people.

On Saturday we got to celebrate Isaiah's good friend Eli's birthday. Happy Birthday Eli! This was Isaiah's first time at Chucky Cheese, and I dare say he was having a blast. The stimulation was a bit much for mom, but dad was enjoying showing Isaiah all the games. The kids have so much fun there it's crazy.

Then after a short nap in the car after the birthday we went out onto the field to cheer on daddy, who was playing in an alumni soccer game at the University. Isaiah always has a blast cheering on daddy, but the biggest hit was all the little hot wheels that mom packed in her purse. You should see the crowd of little boys I always get when I pull those things out. I never go without at least 6-8 of those things. It gives Isaiah a chance to share and make friends, and you should have heard the beautiful sound those things made whizzing down the metal bleachers....yikes! After a while, I made the cars take a little nap in my purse without too much protest. Anyway, the funny thing about the alumni game is that when Rob was playing, I, as the affectionately attentive girlfriend would come to ever game, even the alumni game when he would play against the alumni. I used to think that the alumni looked old! Ha Ha! Can you believe that. Now, Rob's probably the average age of the guys that show up, and the college guys look young!?! How did that happen so fast? Well, the old guys didn't do so bad, they lost 2-1 at the end.
The other fun memory for me coming to the alumni game, is that four years ago, at the annual alumni game Rob introduced me to his coaches wife who worked as a pediatric ICU nurse. It was that small introduction that I believe set the coarse for me in my career. It's funny how you go back over the years and can pick small almost meaningless moments and see how they changed you or set a coarse for your life. That was such a huge, yet small moment.

Fun times to share

A couple weeks ago when the weather was just starting to look fabulous, my friend invited us up to her place in Coloma. It's an amazingly gorgeous house that is soo french, it gave me the travel bug in a bad way (well that, and just hanging out with Marianka who is from the Netherlands, and does all these Operation Smile trips all over the world.....sigh.....jealous....one of these days). You can't really tell from this pic, but there are rows and rows of olive trees and I think she said, like 500 lavender bushes. I can't wait to see them all in bloom! WOW! Isaiah was in heaven on this journey cause right across the street, the state parks crew was out doing a large burning, so he got to see many fire-fighters (AKA - inmates getting to do public service, which is why we couldn't get any pics, but the ranger let Isaiah climb on the tractor and check out the fire truck none the less), a fire truck, then we took a small hike down to the American River where we had lunch and saw tons of animals. Just like his daddy, Isaiah could throw rocks all day long, and the 'beach' had enough for a 100 years of throwing. It was such a beautiful day, thanks Marianka for the wonderful time (and the fabulous tea!).

Everyone seems to be turning 30 lately; Happy Birthday Eunice.

A Saki bomb??? Doesn't Saki taste bad enough without putting it in beer? UGG.

Rob didn't wear his dancing shoes, so we didn't join everyone at the club after dinner....and it was literally 10:45 before we were done eating. Yikes! And I do mean, dancing shoes....apparently dress code for men is shoes that are polishable. I didn't think Rob's personal

dress code of flip-flops was going to fly at the door....although I suppose you could argue that his feet could be polished.

SPRING IS HERE!

SPRING IS HERE!

MY FAVORITE POST YET!
So, I wanted to post this Friday night, on the official first day of spring, however, my dear husband suggested a date night....ahhhh, that took precedence. But I had been preparing pics in excited anticipation of this day. This includes a small documentary about the amazingly different species in our yard. I just love to study the different plants and buds and the way they all have their own special way of saying a bright and cheery hello in the spring.

The first day of spring was BEAUTIFUL. It doesn't get much better for me than this....and the post will follow. Those that know me, know that I am in my element when I'm in the garden, outside, just soaking in all those amazing things that grow and change out in nature. We have a few spring/summer traditions. Thursday (a day early), we busted out the grill for the first time this season and made burgers with Greek salad, oh it just makes my mouth water thinking about it even at ten in the mornings. Pasta and potatoes salads will soon follow. I also got out my Toddy carafe. It is a cold water coffee brewer. It makes about 9 cups of concentrated coffee that I use to make iced coffee drinks for about a week, then I brew up another batch. They are soooooooo good. It takes a lot of the acidity out of the coffee, so it's very smooth.

Well, the first day of spring was calling for a Toddy! & my Sanuk's (my favorite brand flip-flops....shout out Emily!).

Skaggs Trees

Liquid Maple - a bit slower than the rest...it's still to this day taking it's time, while all the other trees already have their leaves. SO COOL.

Japanese Maple - This variety has a green branch, I just love how lovely it is in the winter

Our New variety Japanese Maple - Has green/Brown branches but gets lovely green leaves bursting out of an almost red berry looking thing...but they aren't berries...hmmm

Lemon tree blossom- I wasn't so kind to the lemon tree last year, but it's a fighter, and is growing back all it's leaves. YEAH!

Flowering Pear - despite the rancid smell that most trees apparently get, I have yet to turn up my nose to these (these are the trees that got cut, that Isaiah still so vividly remembers). Aren't those flowers just so cool, they look like miniature fireworks!Don't be fooled - I am keenly aware of all our Poison Oak patches (I wish the dog took as much caution as us), sure looks beautiful though....I just love the analogies that I'll get to use with this one to teach the kids about good/evil. And of coarse, the Oak tress, but they aren't blooming yet, so I got a lovely shot of the pesky blackberry using our Oak as a climbing trellis. The fabulously green path around to the back of the house, I just love the wild grass of spring. Just a quick shot of the wild side of the yard. The creek is to the right...it needs a good slash and burn, but I think that would make the neighbors nervous...brainstorming other ways to remove yards and yards of blackberries and poison oak and scrub brush...A GOAT! Still working on it. AHHHHHHH My Favorite Part! The Skaggs Flowers!

Our Vinca Grove. Couldn't pass up this shot with mannerly little lady bug showing me her rear end.
My Rose transplants took great, they are coming along, and God has answered my prayers and lead our deer to other feeding ground besides the roses! YEAH!

Valley Lily??? This is the only one that stumps me. I just planted these bulbs all along the south side of our lawn, and I can't remember what they're called. If anyone knows, will you let me know?

My Tulips last week, just poking their precious little heads up. They took a year off, and I almost forgot that I had them.

And then!!! They bloomed, aren't they lovely. They're like an old friend coming back for a visit, they are so cheery and bubbly they way they bob their oversized heads around in the wind. AHHHH, this might not look like much yet, but I've been working on these for a couple years. These are lilacs, and I think that I have found a good home for them , so I have high hopes for them to bloom maybe this year, but most definitely next. They take some time. I bought them at Costco, like 4 years ago. But I am certain that they are finally happy!

Having too much fun with my camera. I'm no professional by an stretch, but I was having fun this day. Wish I could have gotten the glare out, I think that' s what I was trying to do with my hand shade.

A Camellia Bud - We inherited this plant. I just love these! So hardy, and they are just beautiful all year with bright green leaves and long lasting late winter to summer blooms. They were a popular plant back in the forties. Isn't the design in that bud just magnificent! The pattern just looks so cool, and then check it out below, after it blooms!

A Camellia flower full bloomed! I love to cut these and float them in a bowel on the table, they last forever that way. It's so perfect, it looks like it came out of a kaleidoscope.
Don't overlook the pansy. Not only are they just beautiful, they do really well with some water and not too much sun. AND THEY'RE EDIBLE....although I'm holding off telling Isaiah cause I'm afraid I wouldn't have any left. I have them on the bridge that leads up to the front door and they are just so cute they way the bounce around when you walk past them. I think they look like they're giggling. Trusty Hydrangea. I have been working to keep the soil acidic in these pots to get me some really blue flowers this year. I can't wait to see if it pays off.

Okay, this is just silly fun, and if you are still reading this right now, I am shocked, but anyway. The following pic is of the bushes that divide our house with the neighbors. I just hate them cause they have thorns and they get these ugly red berries around Christmas time. They just clash something terrible with my vinca grove. I have been trying to connive all kinds of ways of getting rid of these berries....but God did it for me. I think sometimes he has a sense of humor with me. This one day, I noticed a few new birds in the yard, particularly on this bush. The following day, the entire oak tree over the bush was filled with birds of the same type. They were coming down out of the tree by the dozens and eating the red berries. This first picture is what the bush looked like after a day. The next pic is after only 3 days. Berries GONE!!!

And the culprits. I'm telling you, it was really amazing. In 3 days, those birds had the bushes stripped clean of berries, and now they're just green thorny bushes left. SO FUNNY.

And finally what day out in the yard would be complete without a little irrigation tubing fun! Isaiah has found all kinds of new FUN WITH TUBING ideas! The best part for me now, is taking Isaiah outside and taking our time as we go around to all the plants, "caring" for them, learning about them and just enjoying how beautiful and different each one is (the life lesson analogies are endless, I'd like to start keeping a journal of them. Spring inspired my quote at the top right of the page, but obviously it pertains to soooo much more). We have started taking walks around the neighborhood together, on foot just holding hands, and we spot all the daffodils and say hi to them. Isaiah usually initiates the walks. He goes to the end of the driveway while we are outside, and sticks his hand out, and calls, "Mommy! Hand!" then, "Walk, mommy." I just LOVE IT! We'll take 30-45 minute walks easily. Learning about all kinds of things along the way. Man, I just love being a mommy!

All my best thinkin' happens in the shower.

Before I had kids, I never new how much I would appreciate a day like today...one in which I could shave, pluck and trim all in the same day! WOOOHOO! Instead of Wordless wednesdays we should have Hairless Thursdays, just kidding. I may even attempt to paint my toes in celebration of spring.

Also, I was singing in the shower (you know, while I was actually shaving), this old song called, "and they'll know we are Christians by our love." I got to thinking about all the people who complain and moan about what state our country is in with reguards to our morality. Yes, I do recognize that there are some things that have gone the way side, but maybe the problem isn't as my dad sees it, that we aren't speaking out enough and fighting for what's right. Maybe the problem is that we aren't loving enough, we can hardly keep our marriages together and love the people in our own homes let alone go out and love those outside the four walls of our house. The problem isn't about our moral decline, it's about our lack of love for our fellow man. When are we going to stop making Christianity equate to morality. Haven't we learned yet, man can never make the mark on his own, we can never be "moral enough." Jesus himself told us this over and over, that we will never be able to be perfect moral people, then Paul reiterated it later in his letters. God doesn't expect us to be moral people, people expect people to be perfectly moral. That's why God sent Jesus to cover for our misfailings. How will people know about God's love for them unless we are LOVING them. You are not going to convince anyone of how amazing God is by living some perfect little moral life, cause let me tell you, the more moral you think you are the more prideful you become...that's not a road you want to travel down either.
If I could spread a new message about Christianity it would be this: God is not interested in your morality and your proper rules, He is interested in your love.

Rom 4:15 "But the fact of the matter is this: when we try to gain God's blessing and salvation by keeping his laws we always end up under his anger, for we always fail to keep them."
But this is the exciting part:
Rom 3:21 "Now God has shown us a different way to heaven (meaning, after Jesus came), not by 'being good enough' and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way. Now God says He will accept and acquit us - declare us 'not guilty' - if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we can all be saved in this way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like."

I love that last part, 'no matter who we are or what we have been like.'

Okay, nap time is almost over I better get painting. Then I'm going to try and do some lovin'.

More Midnight Posts

More Housekeeping and Updates:

* Rebekah had her baby! Last week....sorry bekah for being a bit behind! Congrats! Addison is adorable and we are so excited to watch her grow. It was such a kick for me, cause she had Addison just a few floors down from my unit in the hospital. She went into labor while i was on shift, so i snuck a few trips downstairs to check in and see how she was progressing. I finally went home about mid-night and she had her a few hours later. I am so thrilled for her and Matt and pray blessings on that precious baby girl.

*Thank you Grant (aka. 'great-brit'), for being our memory...what are friends for when we get old and senile? Even though Grant and Jamie are hopefully enjoying themselves in Japan, He was kind enough to leave me a comment, while still on vacation, reminding me that Rob and I had indeed been bowling together. Once he wrote it, Rob and I had a big ah-ha moment. Very funny, (see previous blog). Well, anyway.....

*Who thinks it's a good idea to use our food supply for fuel? Seriously people what a STUPID, and i can't yell STUPID loud enough, idea. Sorry, let me explain. There is much talk in congress and the house right now about making ethanol mandatory in percentage amounts as part of our fuel source. Ethanol is made from corn,....corn is one of our major food groups. Farm land is already going the way of the dinosaur FAST, so are the farmers, and so are the actual nutrients in the ground. Corn is one the most demanding things to grow in terms of nutrients, in other words it renders the soil nutrient barren quickly....soooooo you need LOTS of fertilizers.....CHEMICALS such as nitrogen etc. to replace all the lost nutrients that the corn steals. With population growth, urban sprawl and many other concepts that i haven't even begun to touch...just take a minute to look into whether or not you think using food for fuel sounds like even a remotely good idea. OH....and don't get me started on whether or not 'global warming' is the biggest sheeps wool being pulled over our eyes right now...I'll leave that for another blog.

* Started 2 new books! Yeah! Okay, I'm leaving Francine Rivers for a bit...sorry Francine, I'm going to start seeing other people. "Tears of the Giraffe" by Alexander McCall Smith is the second in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series. It's about a women in Zimbabwe that opens up a detective agency, and all the interesting tales that it brings her way. It's really quite a fun/light read. The second book was given to me today called "Power and Praise" by Merlin R. Carothers. It's an older Christian living classic, and I dove right in. I love to read what the writers of older generations had to say about what it really means to be real with our God and it seems that the older writers had some deeper thoughts on faith than you find in many contemporary books. By example, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Miles Stanford. I'm tired of fluff faith, I started reading a commentary along with my study in the book of Isaiah, written by J. Vernon McGee, and I'm blown away with what God is showing me about myself, my faith, and about HIM. HE IS AMAZING....I JUST LOVE OUR GOD. Please ask me more, I'm just so excited about the things I'm learning right now.

*We have a new pet! Add him to our farm list....Marlin is our new beta fish, compliments of my dad who just had to bless Isaiah with a fish all of his own (There are now more pets than kids in the kids room....i hope this doesn't become a continuing trend). 6 PETS? Call me crazy, but you know how I am....I just love all of God's creation...the more the merrier. Still working on my argument for a goat.

Bowling and Good Friends

I still can't believe it's true, but Rob says we've never been bowling together. In 9 years? Is that possible..?.? I don't believe him, but I don't exactly have a case or pics to prove it. So this time I do. These girls are amazing, they are my old co-workers from the med-center, and I am indebted to them all. You know how they say that when you go through something traumatic with someone it creates a particular sort of bond with that person. That's true of nurses to some degree because they experience the craziest things and really can only joke about it in it's rawest form with one another. Four of these girls and I all started out of nursing school together in the PICU and they are some pretty smart cookies....don't' let the beer buzz faces fool you. Every now and again Amy is real good about planning events, and sometimes we invite the gentleman along too. So bowling it was....next weekend I get to see them all again for a birthday bash downtown!!! LOVE IT!
Oh, and by the way, Rob KICKED everyone's butt at bowling. What is it with that guy and sports anyway? Hummm I guess he picked an appropriate career.