Our Family From The Beginning (In Pictures)

As I was going through pictures the other day, I realized that our family pictures really do tell the story of "us".  Here is a little play by play for you all.  :)

This is our first "Family Picture".  Precious had been home just a few months.  She was 8 1/2 when she joined our family.  Dayton was just a few weeks old here.  :)  This was taken in December of 2001.

Next came Denzell who was 7 at the time and Unique who was then 11.  Everyone thought THAT was a BIG family.  lol  They had already been home for several months in this picture.  (I don't have the Spring picture on this computer.)  This was taken in November of 2003.

Next came Andrew who was then age 5 and Forrest who was age 7 at the time.  This picture was taken in Spring of 2006.  :)  People then realized we were "crazy".  haha

Next came Crystal who was 8, Destiny who was 4, and Ezekiel who was 3.  They made us into a family of 11 people and pushed us into most people's "Extreme Large Family" category.  Gotta love a 50% increase in the number of children!  This picture was taken in December of 2007. 

The next additions were close together.  Jose was 7 and Jacob was 5 when they arrived in January of 2009.  Julianne arrived at age 2, just 2 months later.  This picture was taken around May of 2009.

Our last family picture was taken in December of 2009.  We usually always do pictures at Christmas, but I just couldn't do them this year when Cody was so much a part of us, but not here yet.  I promised myself and the kids that we'd do one when he gets home.  I will go ahead and do them before the kids get home from Eastern Europe.  We will then get another as soon as they are all settled in enough to after their arrival home. 

Here is our most recent picture from December 2009.

I can't wait to get everyone in one picture.  I wonder if we will manage to get them all to look at the camera.  :) 

Can't you see how big God has blessed us?  I mean, to most this would be insane, but to us it is just the biggest blessing imaginable.  We are truly and amazingly blessed! 

Counting Some Blessings!

I'm going to attempt a "light-hearted" post.  I thought I'd go through some old pictures and see what I had to share.  Everyone should remember their blessings and smile on Sundays especially.  lol

This one made me smile immediately.  :)  This was Julianne's first tea party.  The two boys joined us because they just couldn't miss Julianne's first tea party.  I think I remember distinctly them giving me that evil eye and telling me that I better not post it.  lol  (I didn't post it for over a year, so I think that is pretty good.  lol)



She started out neat, but it got kind of messy.  :)

Let's see what else I've got in this bag.  :)

Oh wow, was this a long time ago.  Dayton and Andrew were both only 4 years old here and Forrest was 6.  Forrest and Andrew weren't even living with us full-time yet.  What cute little wisemen they were!

Look!  We were about to get eaten by dinosaurs!  (We only had 9 kids then!  That seems like forever ago!)


I don't know what the biggest blessings to look at are right now.  I could count the blessings as those specific moments, which were awesome.  The other blessing is really just getting to be their Mom!  I love those little people and all the joy they bring me.  :)



Help and Have a Chance at a $100 Gift Card!

I am going to give you a link to a special blog. This is the blog of Shelley. Shelley has helped me so much already. She works with families who are adopting from Eastern Europe through Reeces Rainbow. This is their 4th adoption in 4 years I do believe. She met this little girl while at the institution that she adopted her last son from last year. They are getting close to their first trip and they still need quite a bit of money to go.


They have lots of ways that you can help. There are some very cute things her husband sews that are available to buy. You can buy coffee, shirts, CDs, or just donate. If you donate right now you can have your name put on a puzzle piece. When all the puzzle pieces are put together, they will have the money needed to bring their daughter home. They also have an $100 Amazon gift card to give away.

Please jump on over and help them out! This is a great way to help an amazing lady who helps so many others bring their children home. (She puts up with a lot of emails and instant messages from me!)

Go check out her blog and help her bring their little girl home! http://www.gatheringthemfromtheeast.com/2011/02/1500-and-thank-you-gift.html

Julianne and Homeschooling

Julianne is hysterical.  Her little cute self keeps me constantly in awe that anyone could be that daggone cute!  She is 4 1/2 years old.  She weighs 28.8 lbs.  She has a personality that barely fits in any room.  She is smart as a tack, but doesn't speak a whole lot yet.  She has the cutest "extra chromosome"!  She communicates better nonverbally than anyone I've ever seen.  She never misses a moment of anything! 

Here are just a few examples of her cuteness:

The other night she climbed up in one of the "big" desks, instead of sitting in one of the little ones:

This morning she climbed up in a seat next to Denzell.  He was doing online high school (he's the only one doing an online school) and was in a "class connect" where a teacher was teaching live on the computer.  I'm sure Julianne learned a lot.  :)  After this picture was taken, she later climbed on his lap so that she could see better. 

I wish our other tiny ones were home to join in the homeschool fun.  It is horrible how much you can miss children that you have never even had with you.  It is also a God thing though.  I remember feeling the same way about the tiny princess you see before you.  God brought her home and He will them too!

Love that RAD progress!

May I just say that Crystal is such a different girl than she was about a year ago.  To think that for awhile she was trying to make me sick by spraying stuff to affect my asthma is almost hard to imagine.  She was so afraid of being rejected that she couldn't even accept the love and acceptance that we were continually offering. 

Now I see an 11 1/2 year old girl who is gorgeous and loving.  :)  She has her moments when she goes back to pushing away.  It usually comes during school time and she has to see what will happen.  She wants to know if I will believe she is "dumb" I think.  Everyone else did think she was and she felt it for so long.  I know she is smart!  I just have to keep convincing her that she is.  :)

She is ATTACHED!  She is loving.  She will initiate hugs and kisses now.  She made me a card to tell me she loved me the other day.  She wants to help.  She loves to help with Julianne most of all.  (Really who doesn't???  lol)  She wants to help with baking or putting out lunch.  She wants to be a part of OUR FAMILY! 

I am blessed beyond belief to watch this transformation.  She is turning into a beautiful young girl.  She even looks different.  You can see a difference in her.  Sunday, she even let me put blush and lip gloss on her.  She was reminding her Sunday School teacher to ignore Forrest's attempts for pity because it was all a game to get that attention in the wrong way.  lol 

Now, please no one mention this improvement to her.  It would be a sure way to sabotage her.  She is getting there though!  PRAISE THE LORD!

Please Pray for Paula

Please pray for Paula. Someone did finallly get to meet her. That part is very good. They also found that it wasn't one of the really bad mental institutions from what they saw. I would have been quite relieved about her situation if it wasn't for her "condition".


It turns out that Paula was completely "unresponsive". She didn't respond to seeing them, hearing them, or them touching her. I am just crushed for her. I can't get to her and she needs a mommy to love her. I wish I could just go scoop her up and start the long road to helping her get better. We still have many months left before we will be able to bring her home. I just fear that she has shut off the world completely. Every child needs someone to LOVE them. Food and clothing isn't enough. She needs a FAMILY!

I am not at all afraid of bringing her home. I know we can give her what she needs. I am terribly afraid that she will give up and won't make it home. Without love children cannot be healthy. They don't grow properly. They don't feel safe. They don't develop properly. She needs those things in an urgent way. The helplessness that I feel in knowing that she is there without responding and I can do nothing to help her is so intense. I cried today until I was hoarse. I let the children watch tv for way longer than normal. They don't watch a lot so they were very glad to be told to go watch tv a little while. I hid in my room and got a lot of crying over with. I talked to a couple of really good friends who made me laugh after listening to me cry.

Please pray for Paula. Pray that God will help us get a really quick USCIS approval. I know God can do miracles and I am determined to watch them happen. Pray that she will hold on inside the little world that she is in inside of her. Pray that God will prepare her tiny heart for love and family.

Large Family/Time with the Kids

I have heard over the years many times about how people worry the kids won't get enough attention or "one on one attention".  I was thinking about it for a few days as we have all our time together.  It really did make me laugh.

I spend more time with my kids than most parents.  My kids homeschool so I am with them all day long every day!  I work with them one and one and I get to see the "light bulb" when they understand each new concept.  I know all about their personalities, thoughts, desires, and quirks.  I rarely miss a moment of their lives!

Many families have two working parents.  They have their kids for a few hours in the evenings, run to sporting events, and have weekend time. It works for them and many take extra care to raise well adjusted and loving children. 

I'm not here to debate stay at home vs working mothers.  I know some of both who do exceptional jobs! 

I just wonder if the people who ask "how?" I can do it take into consideration that I have my children for many more hours per day than many parents do??? 

My kids have me all day long every day.  They get plenty of attention and are doing exceptionally well. 

If you came across this and you are thinking about whether you should add to your family or feeling guilty that a new addition will take away from your current children, DON'T.  God gave mommies lots of love to go around and more family members just means more people to love each other.  My kids will tell you that they can't find a negative to it.  They love each other dearly and can't wait to have more brothers and sisters to share family life with.  :)