Wow... 6 days, huh?

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I wrote. Things have been crazy. I finished proofreading one book just in time to start the next, and that's when Kai and I both started throwing up. It lasted for 72 hours. That's a lot of lost proofreading time. I went to the Relief Society General meeting and was uplifted. And our individual interviews with our adoption caseworker got cancelled, so we have those this week. But we did do some fun things this week!

We went to a restaurant and there was a balloon lady there! 

Look at the concentration on their faces. They were excited for those balloons!

I love their faces here, too. Lovin' that pizza!

Bully

Yesterday we made it all the way through Stake Conference for the first time in a couple years! Hurray for us! I got feeling nauseated last night, and Kai started puking tonight. :( Poor kiddo. He was such a trooper through the whole thing. Seth went to school and passed off another book. The most exciting thing today was getting an email from our caseworker to set up our personal interviews! Woohoo!

We haven't done much because of the sickness going around though, and I haven't taken pictures either. Because we've been so boring lately, I thought I'd do a different kind of post today.


Jason and I were watching a reality television program. One of the main people turned to another main person on the show and said, "You're being a bully!" That person responded, "If I'm bullying them, it's because they deserve it!" And that is where my mind started turning. I don't think I could even tell you what happened the rest of the show.

Does anyone deserve to be bullied? In any circumstance? My answer would be no. In the 24 hours since that TV show, I haven't thought of one instance where someone deserves to be bullied. There are laws and natural consequences in place when someone does something wrong. (And that's not even mentioning the consequences that come after this life if we have chosen to purposely live a life contrary to Heavenly Father's commandments.) But is any of it up to me? No. And thank goodness! I don't want to have to call the shots. But bullying someone is different. To me, the term "bullying" means degrading someone because of a different preference or choice from your own. Degrading. I hope I have never degraded someone. If I have, I sincerely hope they know that it wasn't intentional.

Too busy!

Seth has been asking Jason to take him fishing, so today, Jason made it happen. They went with an uncle and some cousins and had a BLAST!

500!

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                                                                                                                Looky here!  (¬_¬)
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WE'VE REACHED 500 VIEWS!!!

Seriously, I want to thank anyone that comes here, looks at our site, comments, prays for us, thinks about us, or even sort of likes knowing us. :) We love you all, and we are excited to be getting closer to our goal of adoption, even if it's just one tiny baby step at a time. We are so lucky to have the family and friends that we do! You are all blessings in our lives, and I can't wait to add more friends (aka blessings) as we get to know the great staff at LDS Family Services, other adopting couples, birth parents, and eventually, the newest member of our family. 

Image from of http://www.memakingdo.com/2012/01/happy-day.html

(As a side note, I realize that many of these views are bots just scanning our site so it will be searchable, but I'm glad it will be searchable! So I'm even grateful for the bots.)

Halfway there

I apologize for missing a couple days on here. By tonight, I will be more than halfway done with the book I am proofreading! When the book is done, I will become more consistent with my posts. I start another book on Monday though and will be MIA again.

Tuesday I cut the boys' hair. They hate it, but they get to pick a show to 

watch, and they get a treat when they're done, so they put up with it. 

(They rarely get an extra show during the day or an extra treat.)

That evening, Jason and I coached Seth's soccer practice because his coach 

couldn't be there. It was a blast! Those 4-year-olds are super cute!

BeyWarriors

I'm still not feeling well today. :( For that reason, I cancelled a play date with Seth and Kai's best pals. I hate having to do that, but I couldn't risk getting their friends sick. We went outside instead. I pulled weeds while the kiddos rode their bikes. Seth fell and scraped his knee. Usually, this would merit a complete meltdown from him, but today he picked himself up, let me clean it and get him a bandaid, and went right back to riding his bike! I was so proud of him. Then Seth was off to preschool, and Kai and I played together for a bit before I put him down for his nap. At this point, I started proofreading a book. I only have a week before the next book starts, so I really hope I make it through in time! If there are less blog posts over the next couple weeks, you'll know why.

In the afternoon, Seth had a BeyBlades party to attend! He was with a lot of boys a year or two older than him, but he fit right in and had a great time. He had never played with BeyWarriors before. He won the grand prize and got to take home a BeyWarrior and a Stadium! And then I couldn't get him to stop playing with it to eat his dinner. Lol! He was just so excited about it.

Church

We went to church, but I only made it through Sunday School and Sacrament. I'm getting a cold and I could feel myself getting sicker as I sat there. It's going to be a lazy day... for me anyway. I don't think anything could get these cute faces down!

Typical Saturday

We went to Seth's second soccer game today. I love watching him play!

Jason went on the field and kicked the ball around with Seth during halftime. 

Kai and I were a great cheer squad!

Author

We had a fun Friday night! Richard Paul Evans is the author of the Michael Vey book series. It's a cute little series that Jason and I have both read. Evans prereleased book 3 tonight, and we were there!

While Seth was at school, it was raining outside. Kai was so disappointed that 

I wouldn't let him go outside. It was more wind than rain, and I didn't want him 

getting sick. He sat at this window and watched the rain for a while.

Adoption Panel

Seth went to a birthday party this morning and had a blast. Kai was sad that he didn't get to go, so we came home and ate fruit snacks together which are a huge treat in our house!

I went to an adoption panel/chat thingy held by Families Supporting Adoption and LDS Family Services. It was great to hear about the different stories and feelings from all the people on the panel. Each story is so unique; I just can't get enough of it! I could listen to people talk about it all day long. And I always have more questions, a lot of them just out of curiosity and not for my benefit necessarily. Adoption is simply my favorite subject right now. :) It was great hearing other people's questions also, because it gave me some insight into what other potential adoptive families think and feel. My favorite part was definitely listening to the birth parents speak. Other viewpoints than my own always fascinate me. I just want to know what everyone else is thinking pretty much all the time. Is that strange? Haha! I often think about the future birth parents of our future child. I wonder where they are now and what they are doing, how they are feeling, how long it will be until we meet them, etc. It feels like waiting to meet my own sibling! So if it's you, know that many thoughts and prayers have been coming your way for a long time. :)

We will never forget.

I will never forget where I was that day. I got up early to get a cast off of my arm. I had previously broken my wrist rollerblading at a skate park. I turned on the TV while I waited for my mother to finish getting ready to go. And then it happened. I ran to tell my mother, and at first she didn't believe me. I was yelling at my brothers to stop getting ready for school and watch. We left them glued to the TV. Because the town I grew up in was so small, we had to drive to the next town over to get the cast removed. We listened on the radio as the second tower was hit. Then we lost radio signal. It was hard to wait the 15 minutes it took to go between two mountains before our signal came back.

Last year, we went to NYC for Easter because Jason had to be out there for a work meeting and we didn't want to spend Easter apart. It was wonderful! The boys and I had so much fun, and we saw about everything there is to see. This includes the 9/11 memorial. It's so peaceful inside. They've done a wonderful job of making the area beautiful and meaningful.

Auditions

Jason auditioned for a part in A Christmas Carol (the musical version) today! He sings really well and says the audition went well, so we have our fingers crossed! :D

Seth went to his second soccer practice today. He struggled every time he didn't "win" or run the fastest, and it was a great teaching opportunity for us. I kept telling him that if he's having fun, he's doing it right. He'd sniff, say okay, take a deep breath, then lift his chin and try again. I was so proud of him.

I volunteered to help our HOA collect votes about some rule changes around the neighborhood, and it was fun to talk to all of our neighbors. Some of them are old friends, and some of them were new acquaintances. All of them are wonderful people. We're so lucky to be in the middle of such a good group! Seth rode his bike and I pulled Kai in his wagon. They were really cute and happy to be out and about.

Easy days

We didn't have any plans out of the house today except for Seth going to preschool, so we got to stay home and get some cleaning done mostly. While Seth was at preschool, Kailand sang to me.

Here is our precious moment of the day!

Wrestling with Daddy

Cousins!

We had cousins spend a couple nights, and it was wonderful! They are some of Seth and Kai's best friends. We had some great adventures together!

We spread mattresses everywhere and had a big sleepover! 

We stayed up late watching a movie together and eating popcorn.

Then next morning we

Allergies and Asthma

Seth has some allergies and asthma, and today was a doctor appointment for him. It was nice to be able to promise him that the doctor wouldn't do anything that would hurt today (like a scratch test or shots). He is so brave when we have to go to the doctor, but easy visits are a breath of fresh air!

Waiting to see the doctor

We went to an indoor play place afterward as a reward to the boys 

since they were so nice at the doctor's office. 

Building

We have been replacing the shelves in several rooms of our house. The old ones were wire and scarce. These that Jason has been adding are wood and designed exactly how we want them. I shouldn't be this giddy about shelves! :D

Jason is working so hard to build shelves in Seth and Kailand's room.

It's amazing what effort he will put in for the comfort of our little family.

Seth helped me vacuum the stairs today. He loves to help. 

Look at that expression of pure satisfaction!

Seth's First Soccer Practice Ever!

 Here's my little sports nut!

Service Opportunities

Hey! This is Jason.  Ashley told you about us going to pick our own fruit on Labor Day.  We had a blast.  After reading her post, I wanted to add some insights.  She mentions that we had some opportunities to help others.  Seriously, it was an even more fun day because of these opportunities.

On our way to the farm, we saw a small car stall out on the road.  As we were passing them, two young boys jumped out (probably 12 and 8 years old).  We looked at each other and thought, "Oh, that's not good."  This was a major road that was right in front of an entrance to a highway.  So Ashley pulls over and says, "Hey, go help them." (I love when she does stuff like that.)  I ran over and helped push them into a parking lot.  Good thing, too, because I'm not sure those little boys would have gotten the car up the small incline of the parking lot.  That was awesome, and I needed the exercise.  :)

Picking Sweetness

Today was filled with joy. My father was visiting for a night, and the kids love grandpa! We also had several opportunities to help those in need around us, which always brightens a day! And we got to spend the day as a family. (Happy Labor Day!) Those are my favorite kinds of days.

We decided to spend the day at a berry picking farm. We showed the kids where food ACTUALLY comes from. With a lot of our time going toward adoption, we didn't have a chance to plant a garden this year like we normally do. This was different and fun, and it showed them how expansive gardening can be!

Kailand picking raspberries

 

Kailand found a very large grasshopper, and

Hello, World!

This is the beginning, but it doesn't feel like it. We've come so far already, and we are only in the infantile stages of this process. For the sake of information, here's where we've come from and where we are going.

When Jason and I were first married, we knew we wanted a house full of children, we knew we wanted to wait a couple years before we started filling that house, and we knew we would eventually add to our family through adoption. Adoption was always on our radar, because everyone involved is given an opportunity to grow in understanding and empathy. We just wanted to be involved with people selfless enough to choose adoption. We knew there was a need, and we knew we could serve others by being adoptive parents. Serving others makes my world go round. I love giving, and I love, understand, and connect with children. It just fit.

Five months into our marriage, we received distinct revelation from our loving Heavenly Father that we were to start trying for our first child. Nine months later, he joined our family. Eight months after that, I could feel that something wasn't right with my body. Being a dancer, I had always been so in tune with my own rhythm and movement, and now it all just felt wrong. Over the next nine months, things went from bad to worse to worst. My lower back and legs were in pain all the time, really bad pain. Thank goodness for my little boy! He was the reason I was able to press through, get out of bed every day, and find a reason to "cowboy up", as my father would say.