Ode to the Pacifier part 2

So, my boys LOVE their pacis! I mean love, love, LOVE them!
It is quite nice when you want some peace and quiet...
BUT my children get VERY attached to them.
Fortunately for us, Judah's paci got a hole in it on Monday -
which means it BROKE.
Poor little guy slept with it anyways for two nights and would NOT give it up! Last night he finally relinquished it with the promise of a new toy, which he got today! I am so proud of him!
To read about Elijah's goodbye to his paci, click HERE.
Here is Judah's rendition:

Pacifier, pacifier, you were my bestest friend
But even still, I had to say goodbye to you in the end
Mommy & Daddy say I've grown into a big boy
And I had to get rid of you because you're not a toy
I was very brave but shed a few tears
Because you were there for me for 3 whole years
I'll miss you but I know that it was for the best
My only prayer is that you finally have some peace and rest

RIP Pacifier: 2008-2011
We will miss you!

he's WILD

Our preschool program was last night. Can't believe it's been another school year!!!
The theme was the jungle, Where the Wild Things Are.
Here is our Wild Thing. He was adorable (of course :-)

With his brother before the show.

Here are all of the 2 year old classes on the stage together.

Judah did great! Sang and did all the hand motions...not shy about it at all!
He spotted me when he first got up there and started to run down to me until I told him to go back, which he did thankfully.

Singing about an elephant's CRAZY NOSE!

Doing the Crocodile with his hands.

Lookin' cute in his hat afterwards!

My 4 year old class did great as well! This is a HUGE production our preschool puts on every year. Great decorations and the kids work so hard and so long to get this right! A huge thank you to Ms Shei, our music teacher, who does most of the work for this! It was fabulous again!

So grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends that couldn't come, here is Judah's full debut. My camera does not zoom in real well, but he is on the front row in the middle of the screen. Hard to see any detail but you can hear all of the songs. He didn't fall off the stage this year so I'd call it a success! Although if you'll watch, he does his 1 leg thing again toward the end and it freaked me out...I thought he was gonna take a tumble again for sure!

ten

Okay, so MY plan was that I would not be writing about 10 months on the wait list.

I have my plan and God has HIS. His is ALWAYS better.

That is not to say that we are not sad and frustrated...because we are. We were told this week to expect 3 more months of waiting before a referral. NOT what we wanted to hear, but we are adjusting...it is very hard. Again, God has HIS plan and I have mine. Our hope is in HIM and not in our adoption agency or the Ethiopian government. His timing is going to lead us right to the child that He's had planned for us from the beginning of time. I'm okay with THAT. :-) But this was very refreshing for me to read anyways: http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2011/04/word-to-my-sisters-and-brothers.html

She is constantly on all of our minds. Just yesterday as I was shopping at Target for a baby shower gift, I stumbled across this on the clearance rack.

HAD to get it and I got the biggest one they had: size 9 months. Jason loves the Beatles! One of our baby showers for Elijah was Beatles themed, his nursery was the John Lennon baby collection and one of the reasons we named our second son Judah was so that Jason could sing "Hey Jude" to him. So there you go...I was thrilled to find this and am hoping she's small enough to wear it when she comes home.

And my wonderfully talented sister-in-law, Lauren, and her husband Matt WROTE and ILLUSTRATED this beautiful book for our baby girl. Like I said, she's on everybody's mind.

It is PRECIOUS! I mean just look at the pictures...I wish I could put the whole book on here for you to see and read. Thank you again Aunt Laur-Laur and Uncle Matt! She is gonna be so lucky to have both of you in her life!

Hopefully 10 months from NOW, she'll be cuddled up in my lap while I read her this book.

remembering easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! On Saturday, we drove up to Gainesville to be with Nana, Grangoat, Brad & Nova. We took the boys to the park, hunted Easter eggs, ate a wonderful fajita dinner and watched Despicable Me.

Here's Elijah trying to knock an Easter egg down from the tree.

Here's Elijah at the park, and if you'll look to the right of him, you'll see the boys' names on one of the wooden slats. Nana & Grangoat helped build the park so the boys' names are there! Pretty cool!

Judah was totally scaring me on this thing, but that's how it goes with him!

Oh yeah, and did I mention that while we were there it started hailing, the tornado sirens started going off and the news said the rotating clouds were RIGHT ABOVE THE HOUSE!!! So...we all hid in the hall under mattresses. Wrong! What fun would that be! :-) We all ran outside to check it out of course!

There were some pretty scary clouds but thankfully nothing ever touched down! We made a break for home shortly after this and missed more incoming storms.

-----------------------------------------------------
On Sunday afternoon, we had the great pleasure of having Easter lunch with our new friends, the Tucker's. We really enjoyed it...thanks again guys!

We let the kids have another mini-egg hunt in their backyard. Jason and Lanny did a really good job actually hiding all of the eggs! At the end, they were trying to find a few that they apparently hid from themselves! :-)

The Tucker girls: Eden, Jordan and Kezia

The best I could get of my boys. Judah actually looks very angry at me - watch out!

All 5 kids...I am very proud of this picture, they're all looking!

And lastly, the kids opening all of their eggs to see what they got!

Of course we opened our last Resurrection Egg on Easter morning. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this new tradition, and by the end of the 12 days when I asked Judah why we celebrate Easter, he said "Cause Jesus rolled the stone away"! That is so right...praise Him!

free {happy 3rd birthday judah!}

if you ask judah how old he is today,
he will hold up 3 fingers, smile and say "free".
i just love that, i love that he says it "free". it melts my heart every time.
we just love this little guy so much and can't believe he's already 3!

he was very much anticipated by the whole family -
elijah couldn't WAIT to be a big brother!

the first time i laid eyes on him i was in love.

he was perfect in every way,

and a beautiful, precious baby.
{don't let this picture fool you though, he was NOT a good sleeper :-)}

in the blink of an eye, he was 1 year old,

and then TWO!

and now, he's "free"!


he has had a fabulous day! he wore his new buzz lightyear shirt, shoes and "birthday boy" button to school today where he had cupcakes with his friends.





and he opened his present from mommy & daddy when he got home.



shortly, we are headed to mcdonald's (his choice) for dinner (if there's not a tornado...literally).

judah, you are such a blessing! we are privileged that God chose us to be your parents. we are humbled at the task of raising you to mirror Jesus and proclaim His good news all over the world. we pray daily for you - for your desires, your friends, your future wife, your choices and your heart to all center around Him because He is what will make your life full of meaning and purpose. we love you sweet angel. thank you for keeping us on our toes, for always making us smile and for being a little light everywhere you go. you make us so proud! happy birthday!

to read judah's full {adventurous} birth story, click HERE

hope resurrected

Happy Easter...He is risen!!!

"Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day!"

glorious silence

alternately titled: what judah did with the tape & stickers from his easter eggs after school
alternately alternately titled: he did this to himself, please don't turn me in :-)