Friday, February 22, 2013

February 2013

Welcome winter!  Thanksgiving and Christmas is passed!  Time is flying! 

Here's a shot of Kepler in his fancy clothes for his Christmas Eve performance at church.  He sang Go Tell It On The Mountain.  It's February and he's still singing it:) We are still in awe of how cute he is.
We are still getting out and enjoying walks when we have time and the weather is nice.  Kepler is doing so great on his bike! 


We signed him up for swimming lessons too and it's the best thing!  Taking him twice a week has been so good for helping him feel more comfortable in the water.  Washing/conditioning his hair is easier and going swimming as a family is so much more fun when he isn't acting like a barnacle! The first lesson consisted of lots of tears but it was a great chance for us to talk about being brave and listening to a teacher that isn't mommy.  He LOVES them now and has grown in so many ways besides just swimming!




Amos is getting lots of practice doing photo shoots with Kepler.  These are some of the results of our sessions.  You want to know a secret?  Kids that do what daddy asks for photo shoots get Scoobie Snacks:)


My ever faithful, cleaner upper is always up for chores.  He unloads the silverware from the dishwasher and of course, he vacuums the school!Another favorite lately is Starfall.  It's a game on the computer that teaches basic computer skills as well as phonics and counting.  He's getting really good at it!  He's very interested in telling me and asking me what different words start with.  He'll say "P-p-p-pumpkin starts with P mama!" or "L-l-l-l- elephant!  L starts with elephant!"...uh....very close!  I can see the reasoning:)


We have a little girl staying with us through Safe Families.  This has been a HUGE adjustment for Kepler.  V is not quite 2.5 and Kepler has had to share all his toys, our time and affection, learn how to get along, be flexible and be a good leader on less sleep (because they share a room!).  It's been so good for him but he has been a huge blessing in her life as well.  They have so much fun.  Our house is a loud, messy ball of action lately.  I like it:)  It's been tough but so rewarding. One thing I hope is that our family will live out what we hope to impress on Kepler.  I want to be a Christian that really does help others.  This placement has been tough and messy but I really do think this is the sort of "Love" Jesus talked about.  I pray that Kepler will learn this growing up in our home.
We all went to Seabrook last weekend and had a blast!  Kepler and V ran from the waves, got soaking wet and dug in the sand.  We swam in the pool and went for walks under the cold, clear skies on the coast.  It was so much fun. I'm not allowed to show pictures of V, so these will have to do...


Lastly, we get to adoption #2.  We have been waiting to be matched with Baby Sister for 5 months.  We got word this week that our agency was closing and that our dossier would need to be transferred to another agency if we wished to continue.  After much calling around, we learned that we would need to start over and pay thousands to submit another dossier and get at the back of a two+ year wait.  Our hearts have taken a beating this week.  Then, just last night, we got word that a donor had come forth and offered to finance our agency's expenses so they can stay open long enough to finish all in-process adoptions.  We were elated!!!  We were seriously considering giving up on this Ethiopian adoption.  There are a couple things in our life that are kind of up in the air lately but this dramatic change for the good has made our hearts soar.  We are so grateful.  So, after a week long heart attack, we are back up on the horse waiting again.   It's so crazy how adopting can be exciting, heart wrenching, boring, wonderful, hopeful and so difficult all at once.