Isaac funny

Laney had just finished drawing a picture of herself (just of her head) and Isaac looked at it and said "um Laney, you didn't draw foots." Laney said "I know, Isaac." He thought for a second, then looked right at her and said, "But Laney, you have foots! Look down!" :)

Jett - 18 Months Old!!

I can't believe you have already been with us for a year and a half, my littlest man! 

At 18 months, you have the most AMAZING personality!!! 

{oh, and you still make this face all.the.time}

You are, by far, the funniest little toddler I have ever known!!  You love (LOVE!!) to dance!  Any time you hear music, you just can't help yourself! You bend your knees, and kinda bounce and twist from side to side. :) You love to say your special "shsllsshh" sound (still), you love to laugh and you love to make everyone else laugh!  You will peek around a corner, just to see if anyone will notice you, and if they do, you come out running and laughing.  You love to scream at the top of your lungs just to hear yourself.  You blow raspberries when you play with cars, while pushing them across the floor. You try to tickle everyone and you say something that sounds like "diddle", over and over.  I think you're trying to say "tickle".  You do have a bit of a temper, and when you don't get your way, you get on your hands and knees and put your face on the floor and just whine. 
 

You don't do it very often, though!  Let's keep it that way, please! 

 
You've been done nursing for about one month, but you still love your binky.  You play with your hair every time your binky goes in your mouth. 
 

This has made for some very crazy hair days. 

 

 Your teeth are almost done coming in - you just need to grow your canines!! :)  You still have stark-white hair, and I'm hoping it doesn't change for a long time!  I love it! 

Sometimes you just say "Mama, Dada...Mama, Dada...Mama, Dada" over and over.  We love hearing you say it!!  The other day, you looked at mommy and said "Dada?"  Mommy told you that daddy went bye-bye.  You walked over to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled on it, while whining and saying "DADA!"  You love your daddy!!!  When you see daddy drive up to the house when he's coming home from work, you scream "Dada!!" and you run to the top of the stairs and wait for him to open the door! 

You don't say a whole lot of words, but that's okay.  I know it will come in time.  You're favorite things to say are:
Mama
Dada
LIJA!!!!! (yelling for Elijah)
cooka (cookie)
ca (car)
bubba (bye bye)
da (dog)
Nigh nigh (night night)
Co-co (Chloe)
Na-na (banana)
mmmoooo (when mommy asks you what a cow says)

Sometimes you try to copy us when we ask you to say something, but you definitely prefer your own language.

But...
Your most FAVORITE thing ever????

EATING!!!!!!!!!

Child, you eat more than your 2 older brothers combined.  (That's not an exaggeration!!!)
If anyone is eating anything at any given time, you will, without fail, be hovering over them, begging for a bite.  As I'm typing this, you are mooching cereal off daddy!!!  I have never seen one child eat so much.  ever.

Jett, you are the sweetest, most wonderful blond-haired, blue-eyed baby boy in the world!!!  There is nothing I wouldn't do for you!  I love you more than life itself!!!!   God has placed you in this family for a reason, and I'm so grateful to Him for allowing me to be your momma!!!  I love you precious boy!!!

Swimming lessons and growing ducks

The boys have started swimming lessons and they absolutely LOVE it!  There is one teacher that I don't care for...she's not very patient with the kids, especially Elijah.  When she puts him on his back to practice floating, he gets a little freaked out and starts grabbing her and kicking.  She doesn't really try to talk to him and work with him, and he's not going to stop doing that unless she explains to him exactly what he's supposed to be doing. 
Isaac hates being dunked under the water, which, ironically enough, Elijah loves.  They are both doing just fine, and I'm not too concerned with what they're learning.  I just basically wanted them to be familiar with being in water.



Our ducks are getting so big!!!  Mike hates them and wants to release them as soon as possible, but they're so fun!  ...to me and the kids, anyway! :)  I do hate cleaning out their box and feeding them 400 times a day (do you have any idea how much ducks eat?!?!?!), but I know the kids will miss them when they're gone.  We get them out every once in a while and let them wander around the driveway and the backyard, when the kids are playing outside.

{This is his "are you kidding me?" look}

{He picked a flower for his mom.  My little sweetheart.}

{Elijah's putting gas in her bike :)}

{Someone's too big for a Winnie the Pooh ride-on...}

Small World

A while back, I set up a dr. appt. for Elijah.  When I was speaking with the receptionist, I told her I would take the first available, and that it didn't matter which doctor in the practice he saw.  She told me that her first available was with Dr. James, so I took it.  I've never seen this doctor in the practice, but I like all the other doctors there, so I wasn't too concerned. 

We arrived at the doctor's office, and got called back to the exam room.  I glance up as the doctor walks in and says to us "Hi, I'm Dr. James", and immediately notice that I know this woman!  "Oh my goodness!!  Liz!!!  We went to high school together!"  She starts smiling, and says "Sarah!?!?!  How are you?"  I couldn't believe it!  I haven't seen her in probably 12 years!  I had heard through the grapevine that she was a doctor, but I didn't know where she worked or in what her specialty (is that what it's called?) was.  It never even occurred to me when I made the appt. with Dr. James, that it would be her!   So, now my children's doctor is one of my good friends from high school!  Crazy!  I guess I'll be asking for her when I make all of their future appointments!!! :) 

Big Decisions!

I've questioned in my mind whether or not to post about this, but it's been on my heart and my mind lately, and it's a big decision for Mike and I to make, so we could benefit from ya'lls prayers.  (did you like that? ya'lls?  I'm connecting with my inner Southern gal.)

When I was in high school, a group of about 50 of us from our church took a trip to a place called Shepherds Home, a home for mentally handicapped adults.  When we first arrived, I was a little nervous, never having been around mentally disabled individuals much throughout my lifetime.  I didn't know how to interact with them or what to expect from them.  I prepared myself for a unique experience, as it no doubt would be.   As the week progressed, and I started talking to and working with the residents, I became so comfortable around them...much more comfortable than I ever expected I would be.  I literally fell in love with these people!!  I loved them...all of them, of course, but the people with Down syndrome just melted my heart.  I specifically  remember working with this one lady who had Down syndrome. She was the sweetest lady with the most amazing personality! She left a huge impression on me.  I think that's when God started working in my heart.

I've always been drawn to people with Down syndrome.  I can't explain what it is that I feel for them.  I know this sound cheesy or whatever, but when I see someone with DS, my heart just melts.  Really.  Just the joy they exhibit is amazing.  And if you've ever been around someone with DS, you know what I'm talking about.  They are just precious.

Anyway, getting to the point of this post, Mike and I have decided that in about 5 years, we would love to adopt a child with Down syndrome...from Eastern Europe, Russia, or Asia, as many of the orphans from these areas are sent to live in "institutions" after the age of 4 and are declared unadoptable.  Reece's Rainbow is a great ministry set up to raise awareness about Down syndrome orphans. They also have funds set up to help offset the cost of adopting these precious children.  If you have a few minutes (or 12) check out this video they put together. 

While Mike and I would both love to be able to jump into this immediately, the reality is that we just can't.  Our 5 year plan is to pay off bills, sell our house, move to a larger home (which we would need with 6 kids!!) and then start the adoption process.  We're under no illusions that this will be easy.  Adopting a special needs child is not something we're taking lightly.  It's going to be tough.  We know that.  It's going to be a life-long commitment.  We know that, too.  But we also know that we weren't called to live a life of ease.  We aren't in this life to see what we can get out of it. We are called to follow Christ, and to serve and honor Him.  Those precious children each have a purpose for their lives, and we believe that this is God's will for our family.  We also realize that this isn't something that every family is called to do.  This is a HUGE decision that we haven't come to lightly.  We have been praying about it, and talking about it for some time now.

So that's that.
Now that I've publicly announced it, does that mean it's set in stone?
I hope so!

And I realize that 5 years is a long time, and yeah, this post is a little premature.  Like I've said before though, this is the only journal I have, and I want to always remember the time we made this decision. 

But, if you ever think about it, please pray for us as we begin to research all the things that come along with adoption, international adoption, special needs children, and Down syndrome.  We have alot to learn about it all, and I can't wait! 

"Because every family deserves the blessing of a child with Down sydrome..."
~Reece's Rainbow

I'm also posting this powerful video that impacted me and helped aid our decision to do this: