Doing better...it's been a while!

Yes, we ARE doing better since my last post in October. That, my goodness, was a difficult season. We are receiving therapy from The Baby Fold, our local homestudy agency. A therapist comes over once a week to work with the kids together and especially help Brendan to settle into a closer attachment to our family.

Since that post:

• Aidan turned 8! We had a fun family day + grandpa at Legoland in Schaumberg. Aidan loves all things Lego Ninjago and has recently discovered Angry Birds.
• We had our first Christmas with Brendan home. Fun times!!
• We were all really sick between Thanksgiving and Christmas...lots of sharing of germs!
• I've had numerous injuries to deal with since New Years...my knee, my foot, and my neck. Tried physical therapy for my knee, and when that didn't work I went to my wonderful chiropractor. He used a high-powered laser on my knee for a while and it's much better. My foot seems to be fine now, and my neck is better but not 100% yet. Gotta work on that posture!
• From Feb-May, we averaged 5 doctor appts/week. It has been a very expensive spring for us.
• I got the privilege to travel with my dad and sis to the Hamptons in New York for my second cousin's wedding! It was SO nice to get away for a few days, even if it was a whirlwind trip. I want another cannoli....
• Last weekend Iona turned 4! We took the family to the circus and had a family party at our house the next day. Our little princess is in love with the Disney princesses and dress-up and at the same time loves to be uber active.
• I just had sinus surgery yesterday, so I actually have a bunch of down time to blog a little! I can't do much for the next 2 weeks. I hope to have some time to sleep, price clothes for our garage sale, plan for school next year, and read, not in that order.

Coming up this summer:

• Another adoption garage sale in June. We are THRILLED at all the wonderful donations we have received. We finally got our tax return, so we're trying to pay off the last $4000+.
• Brendan's 6th birthday in June, and his first one with our family! Our sweet boy loves all things Cars and crafts.
• Finishing up this school year and planning for next...not sure about our start date yet for fall. Curriculum post to come...

so things have gotten a bit busy...

We're moved. We've been here just over a month. We love our new house!! The kids constantly want to go outside and play on the new swingset. They've made friends with the neighbors. We have to watch Iona closely because she likes to take herself right outside when the door is open!

95% of the boxes are unpacked. We're still finding the right place for everything. We've started a garage sale pile. :)

We have 3 weeks left of school. We'll finish the main subjects this week and then take the next 2 weeks to finish all the extras. I just went curriculum shopping for next year...so excited about what's coming in the mail over the next few weeks!! This may sound strange, but I absolutely love the challenge of planning out the school year. I'm going to try out a new program, so we'll see how it goes.

I am back at work 3 nights/week, but I'm hoping that will end soon. (It's a temp job, but reoccurs every few months.) I'd like to find some more editing clients this summer so I can make a bit more money for the time spent.

I finished judging a book award. I've done this one for a few years now and really enjoy it. This year it was a bit stressful with the move as well, but I managed to read 13 books in less than 3 months and still move to a new house. Ah!

The half marathon is next weekend. I hurt my knee last weekend while trying to run 8 miles. Umm...I should say I was trying to catch up on the training schedule...the longest I had gone before was 4.5. The knee seemed to heal after a few days of rest, ice, stretching, a short bike ride, and an hour-long Wii workout. I went out today for 2.5 miles and limped home. I am planning to call the doc in the morning and make sure I'm still good to go for 13.1 miles. Pete, however, has rocked the training schedule. And my sister is amazing as well. I hope I can keep up with them!!

These past few weeks I've been meditating on some "running" passages in the Bible and trying not to let my heart give up on this half marathon. Letting God change my heart and tune into His. Ouch. He's opening up the raw areas and working deep. Funny...I will be starting The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with Aidan this week, my favorite Narnia book, and I seem to remember this theme in the book. Hmmmmmm.

Still praying through the adoption details. Still waiting for tax returns so we can get started. We're hoping to at least start our home study soon.

Next week we're taking the family to St. Louis for a few days. We're going to the zoo and some museums. It's a celebration for being almost done with Kindergarten, and we'll be down there anyway...we're going with our best friends too!

Iona's birthday is coming up soon...I'll be sure to post pictures of her party...

countdown

We are moving in 10 days!! Pete and Aidan have both been sick and are almost over their colds. I'm smack in the middle of mine. Thankfully, Iona has been doing OK. She seemed a little congested today, but nothing too bad.

We are taking a 3-week break from homeschooling. Everyone is excited for this break, but packing and unpacking is keeping us busy. It's so nice that we can flex our school schedule with life! Once we return to schooling, we have about 6 weeks left until we're done for the school year. I have lots of fun, school-related things planned for the summer, and I'm REALLY looking forward to planning out Aidan's 1st grade year. I'm itching to get started now, but I need to get my new house unpacked first. :) I read an amazing article on 1 Cor 13 for homeschool moms today...

I have not been able to run now for almost a week. I am feeling woefully underprepared for this half marathon coming up...

Iona has been VERY curious lately, and the boxes everywhere add to it. A common phrase out of her mouth lately is "What's that?" Over and over. She discovered where I keep her "pretties"--her hair beads and other hair supplies and has been found, multiple times, with bags of beads open and "stirring" the beads with her beading tool. I finally had to put it up and out of reach. And tonight she was caught curiously examining food in the garbage...the stray pieces of carrot and cabbage that I shredded, and the eggs that had been cracked... Ick. She's also been wanting me to hold her and rock her like a baby...she pretends to "sleep" in my lap or next to me on the couch, covered with a blanket and thumb in mouth. So cute!

Aidan started AWANA a couple of weeks ago and is having a blast! He just got his vest and new book and is working hard on learning his verses. I can't wait until Iona can join him when she turns 3. He seems to be taking the move fine. He's excited about the new house and his new room and new swingset. He's expressed some sadness about leaving our house, especially his stick and rock collections. :)

T minus 10 days and counting...

SOLD!

We had an offer on our house in the afternoon after our open house. After going back and forth many times, we accepted a deal on Sunday morning!!

So we had our houses labeled 1, 2, and 3. While we were waiting for our house to sell, we had finally decided #1 was just too much money and out of our reach. Sunday afternoon we went to see #2 again. We were about to put an offer on it, but we were not at peace. It was a lot smaller than we remembered from the first showing. We went home and spent some time with our realtors, and we decided to go and see #3 again...of course we had to give the homeowners time to get out!! Finally, late afternoon, we went to see it again. WE LOVED IT!! We got to see it with the sun shining in the windows. We realized that once we took #1 out of the picture, this house looked a lot more appealing. We are very overwhelmed by God's grace, giving us the PERFECT house in so many different ways. Pictures are on Facebook.

We're still waiting to hear our close date. Our buyer wants in on March 15, but our seller would prefer to get out by March 30. Thankfully our realtors are working that all out. We have the basement almost completely packed.

The garage door turned out to be a relatively small fix, and our repairman was able to fix another problem with it at the same time. We're so thankful!!

We're taking a small break this week to go visit some adoption friends who are traveling nearby from MA. We're excited to see the Laughners again and anyone else who can come as well!

We had fun celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend with the kids. Aidan and Pete made sugar cookies with icing and got to use a bunch of fun cookie cutters. We gave the kids tiny boxes of chocolates. And tonight we had take and bake pizza for dinner. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

house hunting

Our house has officially been on the market for 8 days. We've had 9 showings, and we hear 5 people are VERY interested. We have an open house planned for Saturday morning.

We totally feel like we're back waiting for a referral!! Every time the phone rings my heart leaps, hoping it's our realtor saying she has 1 or more offers for us. She and I even chatted multiple times today. But we still wait.

Meanwhile, we have 3 houses we are very interested in. We could see ourselves happy in any of the three. And 2 others, just in case. We've listed all the pros and cons for each and have gone round and round about an order for them. But we can't move forward until we get an offer, and we are trying to wait until we make an offer to do our taxes (because of the $6500 tax credit we can get).

Did I mention 9 showings in 8 days? Our vacuum died at the beginning of the week. We do have a backup, but it's just a canister vacuum, the kind with the long hose. We need a new one. We've priced the one we want out, but we are trying to wait to see what kind of floors we'll have in the new place. Oh, and the area rugs we bought? They have black borders. That show all the dirt. No matter how long it's been since you've vacuumed.

So tonight, as we are preparing to leave the house for another showing, I hit the button on the garage door and then promptly backed into it. CRUNCH. After we finally left the house, we called our realtor so she could let the realtor coming tonight know we planned to fix it in case his client asked. We got home from our errands and I called our insurance agent and a local garage repair person, who just "happened" to be coming near our house tomorrow anyway. It makes me sick to think we might have to replace the whole door before we move, but we'll see.

We're trying to move a little faster in homeschooling so we can prepare to take 2-3 weeks off for the move. Aidan's having no problem with the change in pace...he's actually doing better in math and seems to enjoy learning to read a bit more. I've been putting off the science experiments having to do with bread rising because of the mess while we are trying to sell, but since we need to stick around tomorrow for the garage repairman, we just might attempt it. And he can zip his coat by himself now!! All that occupational therapy is paying off!!

I finally bought winter running gear tonight so I can start training for the half marathon. I think this means I actually need to get outside and run now. I plan to start next week. Pete is already running 4 miles. Makes me sick.

We had a little issue a few weeks ago of Iona taking off her clothes in bed and throwing everything, diaper and contents included, out of the crib. Thanks to suggestions made, the onesies are working! Iona is looking more and more like a little girl and is really trying to converse with us. Aidan and Iona seem to be getting along even better. He just loves to make her laugh and comfort her and hug her. She has been trying to delay bedtime by continuing to ask for another hug from Aidan. Tonight she asked, "Ina give Aida a hug?" So cute!!

I'll let you know what happens with the house!!

lots of updates

I wrote earlier that I had gotten a part-time job. Well, they never did call me in to work, and then I received a letter that there had been budget cuts with the client and I may or may not call in. But I am welcome to get put on the list for the next job coming in the spring. Ugh. Thankfully, I did get a surprise editing job that brought in a nice chunk of money and made me realize how much I missed that. I updated my editing Web site and hope this next week to work on some editing tests in hopes of getting more work. I just love going to a coffee shop in the evening and working.

We tried out Stolen Moments Menu Planning this month, and we ended up scrapping our meal plans partway through the month because we didn't like a lot of the recipes and we were looking to go over budget for groceries. The good thing is that we did find some fun recipes and we've been eating out less. And we discovered the freedom in planning all three meals each day instead of just dinners. I've been doing it on my own and it's going well. It's nice to not have to think when it's time to cook--I just look at my list and see what the plan is. I plan and shop once a week.

We finished the 2nd quarter of homeschooling yesterday. We're all pretty excited for a break, though I'm curious to see Aidan's response by the time we get ready to come back. Today I tried out a Bible curriculum I'm thinking about for next year with Aidan, and he LOVED it. It's a combo of Bible and art, which he loves. He was able to process and discuss the passage well and kept saying how fun it was. And he had fun using colored pencils. :) I also asked him a lot of questions about how homeschooling is going and what we could do better or differently, and that was really helpful. We'll be making a few changes in the spring. Overall, we are all loving it.

Perhaps the biggest news is that we are hoping to get our house on the market by Feb 1 to try and take advantage of the current homeowner's tax credit (we would need a contract on another house by the end of April). We would need to sell our house first, so we'll see how it goes. We are praying for God to orchestrate all the details, because they just boggle our minds. First up, next week we are going to start removing carpet in the hallway and living room. Pete is off work all next week, so we're taking advantage of that. And he has a short list of little things to repair as well. It should be loud and dusty around here until we get that done.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

working

We've been trying to pay off debt for a while now, and we decided a few weeks ago that I really needed to get a part-time job to help things go a bit faster. We want to move next summer and we want to adopt again, so now every time we want to spend money, we (try to) ask ourselves if it's worth more than a new house or an adoption. We'll see if that helps us curb the excess.

I got a temporary job last week scoring standardized tests. I will be scoring the composition portion at the high school level. It'll last a couple of months, and I have my resume out at a few other places for when that is done. If they like me, I could be called back for future projects. I think it will be fun. I'll be working three evenings during the week and then Saturday afternoons.

I read about Stolen Moments Menu Planning on Money Saving Mom's site. Since I didn't win her giveaway for a free year of this service, we signed up tonight for one month with MSM's discount (good through the end of the month). I already coupon, menu plan, and shop sales, but I'm excited to see how this might help us. I've been feeling in a rut for a while with breakfasts and lunches, so I signed up for her Complete Plan for this first month. Since I will have less time home while I am working, we thought it was the perfect time to try this out. I'll let you know how it goes!

I also recently bought Owlhaven's Family Feasts for $75 a Week. She includes some Ethiopian and Korean recipes, two of my favorite cuisines. And I LOVE almost all the recipe ideas in the book. I'm excited to try many of them out. Owlhaven is a fellow adoptive mom!

Aidan turns 6!!

My miracle baby turned 6 this past Saturday. Pete put our Flickr photos on my blog, so just go to the album for Aidan's 6th birthday party and you can see the fun.

We celebrated with grandpa and a few friends at Chuck E Cheese. We didn't do their birthday package, but we just ordered some food, brought our own cake, and just played. Aidan wanted his icing ninja turtle green, and we gave his mini turtles a bath before we used them as cake toppers. His friends Kiri and Atticus came with their families and played with us there. Aidan got some LEGO sets, a bunch of games, some books, some turtle figures, and a fun Wolverine-like claw that makes noise--he calls it his Shredder claw. Grandpa came to the house after the party and stayed most of the afternoon, helping Aidan play with his toys and just hanging out.

For dinner he asked for hot dogs and mac and cheese, and then we watched Monster's vs. Aliens together.

It was a nice, relaxing birthday (except when I was literally CHASING Iona through Chuck E Cheese), and I didn't even have to clean!!

the voiceless

So last week I found out I have the flu. We think H1N1, but I was never tested. I've been sick for almost a week now, with no sign of being near done yet. Fever has been gone since Wednesday, thankfully, but yesterday I woke up with no voice.

I never realized how much I like to talk!

So Pete challenged me today with the question: so what is God teaching you through this?

I feel like I have so much swimming in my mind since that question. This is my attempt to record and make sense:

• the orphan--so many have no voice!! 143 million!!

• Orphan Sunday is next weekend. I've been praying for orphans, for people to adopt, for parents who are sick or make difficult decisions, for finances to come through for friends who are adopting.
• Some friends are going on a trip with Children's Hopechest to Ethiopia. Read more about their trip here. Consider a donation! Did you know that $15 will feed one Ethiopian child for a month?
• What is God calling us to do? We know that adopting Iona has been one of the greatest joys God has given us. She is such a fighter. In Ethiopia, 1 in 5 kiddos die before age 5. In calling us to adopt her, God gave her LIFE!! And God opened our eyes to a bigger picture of His love.
• I've been in a women's bible study at church on the book of Proverbs. God has been challenging me with these passages:

Prov 15:1--A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Prov 15:4--The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

Prov 29:11--Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.

I've really been thinking about and trying to watch the way I speak to my kids. Not yelling. Choosing words that give life and don't crush them. Encouraging them lots. Loosing my voice has made me sit back and think through that more, thinking about what I would say if I could, whispering words to them that make a difference.

• I've also been pondering God's voice in Scripture. God's powerful voice to create. What God's voice sounded like to his people. The people who raised their voices to God. How God speaks into the lives of his people. So much to think about.
• It's been really hard for me to not kiss my kiddos on the lips (for fear of spreading my illness), read them stories, etc.
• I'm slightly stressed that we're behind in homeschooling, but we're really only a few days to a week behind in certain subjects. I can't start up again until I can speak.
• I've been praying my voice is back by Tuesday, when Pete leaves on a business trip for the rest of the week. Please pray!!
• I've wrestled with how many times I've wanted to say random things to Pete and I can't. How much do I speak words that are meaningless? Are my words lifting him up or tearing him down?

Please pray that I can continue to make sense of all this and what God wants to teach me. And please pray I LEARN it this time!!

sick, sick, sick

Right before we went apple picking, the kids got sick and got put on antibiotics. Congestion but no fever. They both finished their meds and were not better. So another 10 days of meds went by. Our doc even said we could do a second round of the second med if we wanted to make sure it was cleared up. We decided not to, even if they were still sick. They seem fine now, although today they were both coughing just a little. They finished their meds today.

I, on the other hand, have an unconfirmed case of swine flu. Boo. All day on Monday I was feeling a little off, and it just got worse as the day went on. By evening I was achy and my throat was scratchy. In the middle of the night I ran a fever. Tuesday Pete thankfully stayed home with the kids while I was in bed all day. Aidan was supposed to have a field trip, but it got canceled because the leader's family was sick. I finally went to Prompt Care in the afternoon in my pajamas. (This should tell you how bad I felt--I would NEVER do this otherwise!) After a 1.5 hour wait, they agreed that it was most likely H1N1 and that I would be better in 5-7 days.

Pete went back to work this morning and I parented from the couch most of the day. He came home at lunch and did a little school with Aidan. (Tuesday Aidan was happy there was no school, but by today he really wanted to "do school.") I think they might do some more tonight after taekwondo.

Pete has a conference to go to next week, so please pray with us that 1) I feel better soon, 2) the kids don't get it from me, and 3) Pete doesn't get it. We have sanitized the house and are continuing to do so when we can.

Thanks to good friends who have offered to bring us dinner this week. Looking forward to gondolas tonight.