Coffee and Adoption

One thing our adoption from India has given me is new friends. I have been able to communicate with women all over the United States and they have inspired and encouraged me before, during, and even after our adoption process. Most of these women are just names and pictures, but they have become a part of my life, forever, I hope!

One of these new friends is Kristi. She and her husband are on their third adoption from India and they could use your help. If you like coffee, or if you know someone who does, please have them check out this coffee company that she talks about below. I hope you are able to help and enjoy the coffee!

All of my Facebook friends...please help and spread the word! :) Jason and I are selling organic fair trade coffee to raise money for the last $3,500 of our adoption expenses for Ajay. $5 from each bag of coffee sold will go directly to Dillon Int'l, from the Just Love Coffee Company. Please spread the word, and post this on your status!!!!!
Go to: http://www.justlovecoffee.com/AjayArish

JustLoveCoffee Store

www.justlovecoffee.com

Martian Child

Tonight, as a family, we watched the movie "Martian Child" with John Cusack. I just want to say, "It is a wonderful movie about adoption!" We have had the movie forever and just never sat down to watch it. Needless to say, after adopting ourselves, we could not help but cry. One of our favorite lines from the movie comes when the main character's sister is trying to gently ask him if he is really ready for a child. He turns to her and says, "I know all the arguments about not bringing another child into this world, but what's wrong with loving one that is already here?" Awesome question! If you have never seen this movie, we highly recommend it to everyone!

Snow Days and Nicknames!

I must admit that I was not looking forward to Christmas break ending. I love being home with my kids and having nowhere we have to be. However, time moves on, and we got everything ready and headed back to school. Three days later...enter snowstorm! We have been off of school again this entire week! Yeah! The kids have had so much fun as you can tell from the pictures. The snow came down fast and beautifully and if it were not for the bitter cold, the kids would have played outside for hours...except for Micah. He is not sure that he likes the cold. They tried to take him sledding, but soon he was headed back inside with a runny nose, cold toes and freezing fingers. :) He wanted his blanket and the fire turned on!

All the kiddos have done very well about playing together inside too. We have literally been stuck as we could not get out of our subdivision. One of the funniest things to me is that they have come up with nicknames for each other. All day long I hear Micah calling for these mysterious people...and they come! I cannot help but laugh and I don't know where in the world they came up with the names. Emma is "momma," Hallie is "aunty Lou," Nathan is "Billy," and Micah is "Max." It is so funny at night to hear Micah telling them all "good night" using their nicknames. :)

I consider that this last week and the snow storm were a small gift to us, allowing us this extra time together uninterrupted! I guess I must come back to reality though since school will start back tomorrow. It will be back to just Micah and me during the day. I know he will miss his brothers and sisters. Today I am praising God for the blessing of our family!

Christmas Blessings!

This Christmas has been a very special one for me for many reasons.

• I'm almost to "1 year cancer free!"
• I got the white Christmas I'd been dreaming of...with 3 inches of powdery white snow on Christmas day!
• We had a blast watching Micah enjoy the first Christmas where he really knows what is going on! We had an awesome concert on Christmas morning when he opened his guitar...the only thing he had requested from Santa this year!
• Today, we got to meet another Dillon family who is in process to adopt from India! Abby and Suhas were in town visiting family for the holidays and we got to meet for a 3 hour lunch! We had so much fun and I cannot wait to follow their journey and hopefully keep in touch through the years as our children grow!

We feel so blessed and we are so grateful for the little gifts God sprinkles along our journey that make us stop and smile...things like snow, toy guitars, and new friendships!

Just Because!

This is Micah's newest school photo! I can't believe he is growing up so quickly. He will do something and I'll say, "Good job, baby!" Then he is quick to reply, "I not a baby, Mommy, I Micah!" So true. My Micah is growing and learning so quickly. He is potty trained, speaking in clear sentences, processing everything in site, and beginning to have his own opinions about everything and not afraid to express them. This week he informed me that he does not like jelly on his peanut butter sandwiches. "I no like jelly on my butter, Mommy." Ok, then. Peanut butter only it is. :) Another new thing that just started last week is the "why" question. We hear it frequently now. If he is not asking us "why," something is a certain way, he is turning the tables on us. He asks me, "Mommy do you know why?" Then I answer, "No, Micah. Why?" His answer is always...Because! That's a good enough answer for me. It condenses everything into one simple word. So, Micah. Do you know why I love you so much? Because!

Peaceful Sleep!?

Look at this precious little boy sleeping so peacefully! DON'T BE FOOLED! The only peaceful moments we have during the day is when he is sleeping! :)

I posted a while back about all the things he has broken and mentioned how much those things are costing us to have fixed. Not that I'm keeping a list, but let me just tell you about just 1 day this week in the life of Micah...

Monday night my husband was up till 2:00 a.m. grading papers since his grades were due Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. At 2:00, he was putting everything in a pile to get it ready for school and noticed that his keys were missing. Micah had picked them up earlier in the evening and my husband had told him to put them back down. He did...apparently for the moment. David searched for the keys from 2:00 - 3:00 and then laid down for 1 hr. At 4:00 a.m. he woke me up to help him look. We looked from 4:00 - 7:00 a.m. when David had to call a student of his who lives on our street and ask for a ride to school. The problem? Our Saturn, which we just sold on Sunday, was sitting in the driveway with a dead battery from not having been driven in a while. The Venture was parked in the driveway in front of the garage, leaving me no way to access my Odyssey. Micah had lost our only set of keys to the Venture (David lost his set a year ago and we had never made another copy.) So...

David took a half day off school and had another teacher drive him home. We had the Venture towed to the dealership to be re-keyed. We jumped off the Saturn and took it to have the radio fixed and the battery checked for the new owner. We then headed to the dealership to try to pick up the Venture. We then hurried home to pick up all the other kids from school, only to head back out to pick up the Saturn so that we could bring it home. I will not even say how much $ we spent on Tuesday. :) It's been 3 days and we have still not found the keys.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to a very much needed vacation next week! It will give me some more time to enjoy this precious little bundle of joy named, Micah...with 4 other family members to help me!

Who Would Have Thought...

Two years ago today we accepted a referral for a little boy named, Utsab. Who would have ever thought how much he would change our lives for the better!

This little boy is a great big package of amazing. :)

• Micah is so strong! He can scale any object he sets his mind to. I find him on the top bunk, the washing machine, the bathroom sink, the living room picture window, etc. Nothing is to hard for him to climb, and if he can't work it with his arm strength and his little toes, he carries the step stool to aid him in his endeavor. At the park, a friend of ours was helping little kids "hang" from the monkey bars. Micah wanted to also, so he lifted him up. Micah immediately did a chin up. He's 2!
• Micah is so silly! He has just started playing pretend and I love it! He tries to cook me dinner and is always handing me imaginary money. When we go to leave the house, he puts on his "slip slops," picks up his imaginary tar (guitar) and trumpet and says he's ready to go. Of course, at the top of the stairs, he hands me the "tar" and says, "Too heavy, Mommy. You carry it." He has also started dancing around like a ballerina. He was saying, "See, Mommy, I'm a princess!" He is still dancing around, but at least now I have him saying that he's a "prince."
• Micah is so smart! He remembers everything we read and everybody we meet. He sings songs from our little pre-school program and can already pick out his shapes and some colors. He loves to talk on the phone and steals his dad's all the time. When his dad tries to take it away, Micah says, "I've got to check my e-mail!" We've been half-heartedly working on potty training for a while. Just waiting for a week where we can be consistent. However, this week he went "poo" on the potty!

When we were waiting for a referral, we told the Lord that we could not choose. We prayed that He would let the child that He meant for our family be the first referral we received and we would accept. Micah's referral was miraculous in and of itself (read back posts if you'd like more details), and he is a perfect fit for our family. I am not surprised. I truly believe that as God created Micah in his mother's womb, He knew and created him for our family. Micah...you have forever changed our lives and we are grateful!