it creeps me out when...

... i title a post about Jackson loving on Sophie (see below) "adoration" and somehow between my blog and the RSS feed that pops up on my google reader, the title is changed to "worship," which has a pretty different connotation.

Does anyone know what's wrong with my blog and why it is thesaurus-izing my posts???

adoration.

 

thankful.

you know when you go to the Dollar Tree to get ONE thing -- off-brand windex or a gift bag or something...

...and before you hit the second aisle, you've picked up so many other awesome bargains -- things you actually needed at the amazing price of $1 -- that you wish you had remembered to pick up a basket at the front door, or brought a sherpa with you....

...and you're holding three-dozen things and devising a complex wedging system for carrying it all, and enlisting the use of your chin to hold the precarious pile together...

you know THAT kind of contented arm-fullness?

that's how my heart feels today: full of simple, unexpected treasures.

so. thankful.

Sophie meets MC and Jackson

oh Sophie Cate, how we love you :)

surprise!

we had a baby last night!

her name is sophie cate.

she has her daddy's eyes, nose, and mouth, and her mama's feisty temperament and curly brown hair.

pictures to follow after MC and Jackson get a peek at her :)

Sseko sandals!

Leigh sent me the link for these shoes (Kampala-made,) and I. WANT. A. PAIR.

Please, Santa???

quick update....

yes! Jackson's home from the hospital!

and no... he was never diagnosed with anything...

but he's feeling much better! Thanks for praying!

you'll never guess how today turned out...

2:30am Jackson wakes up complaining that his "bones hurt" and pointing to a spot underneath his left armpit. he's clearly in severe pain

2:32am take his temp -- 101.something

2:35am give him motrin and a spot in a "nest" on our bedroom floor

3:00am he crawls in bed with us

3:30am wakes up hysterically complaining about the same spot on his left side.... writhing in pain, tremoring, not making much sense

3:40am pain randomly goes away... he is fine and dozes off. so do we!

5:00am coughing fit -- give him albuterol puffer, which hypes him up so that he will never go back to sleep.

5:15am has another hysterical side-pain fit. we think maybe it's gas, and let him play in the tub, which he does happily for a half hour

5:45am dozes back off in our bed

6:40am my alarm rings for MC to get ready for school. J has a temp of 104.6

7:00am Jackson wanders down the stairs and lays on the couch... and is immediately hysterically in pain with his side again

7:30am I get Jackson dressed and we head for the 8am clinic at the doctor's office

8:30am we see the doctor. she isn't sure what's up, and orders lots of tests.

9:30am after seeing oxygen saturations as low as the 70%'s, a really cruddy chest, and a white count that's more than double what it should be, the doctor heads straight out to call an ambulance to drive us to the hospital

10:00am arrive at pediatric ER. J gets poked at for 3 hrs and takes a nap.

1:00pm they admit him, thinking it might be pneumonia but not knowing for sure based on the chest xray.

the whole rest of the day J plays Nintendo and watches Nickelodeon and drinks juice and very much enjoys peeing in the plastic jug the nurse so kindly provided

now we're just waiting for morning to see the attending doctor so we can finally hopefully discern what was causing the fever, coughing, chest pain, and so we can hopefully go HOME!!!

...today just wasn't quite what I expected..... but we are very blessed that Jackson is feeling like a new man after a couple of doses of heavy-duty antibiotics. we are very blessed to have family who has moved heaven and earth to love on us today and make our lives as stress-free as possible. and we are very blessed that Sophie is still on the inside -- the only think that would make me more tired than i already am is having a kid in the hospital and a few-days-old baby!

More tomorrow!

the things that fill my heart...

Too often in the crazy busyness of our life, I go into survival mode.

I miss the blessing.

Almost any volunteer at any orphanage in the world can probably tell you that there are one or two "special kids" that just crawl into your heart and stick. And most of those people have to walk away from those kids, maybe getting an update from them every few months.

It's easy to forget that it is a miracle that these two children are mine, that they get to sleep right down the hall from me, that it is remarkable that we didn't have to say goodbye to them forever. It's easy to forget that in many ways, it is a miracle that they are alive.

It makes things like sassiness and messy rooms and picky eating seem a little easier to deal with.

Two years ago today, i got to say hello again.



NOTHING. better.

(There are over 140million orphans in this world.... there are children who need families.... are YOU missing this kind of blessing???)

John Piper's wife on their daughter's adoption...

John Piper's wife wrote a ten-part blog article chronicling their decision to adopt their daughter Talitha (when John was 50!)

Good read!

odds&ends

yep. i've been neglecting my blog.

i've been on modified bedrest since Thursday because of some blood pressure stuff, and it seems like the more time i have to blog, the less motivated I feel. I also know of a couple of people who read this blog who are extremely critical of our family, and i am just annoyed enough in general these days for that to bother me... i am definitely feeling the temptation to withhold blogging just to spite those two people :) But I need to start playing nice again.... so here i am.

Laying in bed/not getting out of the house for a week doesn't make for the sharpest brain function, so here are a few topics to fill up the page without me having to put forth too much brain power....

Quote of the Day:

"Size up the situation, consider the ramifications, and ask honestly:
Will this matter in a hundred years?

If the answer is no, let it go.
If it’s yes, do something about it.
Either way, complaining is not an option."

-Steven Furtick

Things I'm Craving:

salad, mexican food, steak, hashbrowns, skim milk. my appetite is very suggestible these days.

What my kids are up to these days:

bringing home rockstar report cards, loving cozy clothes, the train set, transformers, playing dress-up.

Things that have recently made me pumped:

my doctor telling me that i'm "all baby" and shouldn't have that much trouble with baby weight after sophie comes. my freezer getting more and more stocked with yummy food. the setup of our newly rearranged bedroom. Real butter on homemade bread... don't judge. How nice a sprinkle of baking soda in my shampoo once a week makes my hair feel.

Things that are stressing me:

considering the task of Christmas shopping. the things i'm not going to get to clean/tidy/organize before Sophie comes unless bedrest goes away. the dilemma of whether I am still a Charlie's Soap believer.

It's not a great blog post, folks, but it's what's filling my brain...

if you are as pumped about blog giveaways as i am...

...then check out "The Blessed Event" at Happily Domestic, starting November 21. Lots and lots of reviews of baby/new mommy stuff coming up here! Yay!

kiddies -- all blinged out...

yes, those are pink yarn extensions. yes, i am a glutton for punishment. yes, we did get Jackson a crappy walmart spiderman costume. and yes, he was thrilled with it :)