I've been tagged. . .

I am…..... spending way too much time thinking about writing this and really should just jump in and write!
I have...... so many blessing to be thankful for, a husband who loves me, children who are funny, smart and inspiring to me, friends who will listen to me even when I need to talk over the same things over and over, family who cares about me.
I wish......no one ever felt lonely!
I hate......those piles of papers that build up on your counter and even after you've sorted through them there's always a little pile of things I don't know what to do with. Come to think of it, this happens all over my house!
I miss.......getting ready with girls. You know where you're fighting over the mirror and the counter is never big enough and there's always somebody to curl that piece of hair on the back of your head that you just can't reach.
I fear.........of missing great opportunities becasue I'm too scared to make a decision, because it might be the wrong decsion.
I feel..........most emotions very deeply
I hear........ the TV, my husband reading the paper (oh can you hear that?), my kids screaming outside as they jump in the puddles.
I smell.......the tuna fish and pickle sandwitch I just ate.
I crave.........watermelon and grilled hamburgers and baked beans with potatoe chips on a really, really hot summer day!
I wonder.....what our newest family member looks like. . . sounds like, smells like, feels like, all of it!
I regret........the time I spend worring about what other people think about me.
I love...........my husband, my kids, praying for people, being at the farm in the spring, talking on the phone, being with my friends.
I ache...........when I hear about grown ups hurting or neglecting children.
I care...........about you...because you're taking the time to check on my and read my blog!
I always.......pray when I see an ambulance go by. I figure there's somebody in there who probably needs it.
I am not…..good at math, money or anything involving numbers.
I believe.........Jesus is my Lord and Savior and it's through this relationship that I am blessed!
I dance..........whenever I get the chance. My favorite is with my husband in the kitchen.
I sing...........when I want to feel better, or when I'm trying to distract my children, or when I want to talk to God or really anytime.
I cry...............when I think about how much I love my kids, when I get discouraged with myself, when I need a release.
I don’t always.........make my kids brush their teeth at night, even though I know I should, sometimes it just seems like there's too many steps in the night time routine already.
I fight........ when I feel threatened
I write........my prayers down, that way I can look back to see what God has done with them.
I never.........watch horror movies
I listen.........when people call me on the phone!
I need.......... to talk out my problems, sunshine, and to be around people
I am happy...... when I get to plat flowers in my flower garden and my hands have that dirt stained look.

Thanks Bets, this was fun. Now I tag Shannon, Liz and Sue. Have fun girls!

They're thinking about it too. . .

So now that we are officially in the "waiting stage" of adoption it's sometimes difficult to know what to do, because really there is nothing to "do". Lately the kids have bringing up our baby a lot lately. Jonah was telling us about how there are really 5 people in our family and Aaron says really who is that?( You never quite know who he's going to add in there, Zach the neighbor kid, our gecko, etc). He named each or us and then said our baby. Last week one night he prayed, "Jesus can our baby please be a boy?" "I've never had a brother before." And just today we saw an airplane in the sky and Lydia saw it first ( which is totally bragging rights). I said "good eye Lydia, where do you think it's going?" Without hesitation, she said, "to adopt a baby." It warms my heart and answers my prayers to see God is preparing them for this new baby to be added to our family.

Adoption Update

I almost forgot, one of the biggest things that happened in the last 3 weeks is our family profiles officially went out last week. They are at the agencies and now we just wait for a birthmom to chose us. They went out a week ago Tuesday. I didn't write on here, because for once I really didn't know what to write. For the first time in this whole adoption process there is literally nothing left for us to do but pray. We dont' have to gather more papers, get more fingerprints or have more interviews. We just need to wait on the Lord. At first I was stuck between "Is this really going to happen?" and "This is really going to happen?" As I reflect on where were at and where we've come from. I'm soooo thankful for journey this far. I'm thankful for the people who have been there for us, prayed for us and haven't forgotton that we're on this ride. I'm thankful for the people who have gone down the adoption road and have offered advice and encouragement. And for tonight, I am hopeful in what is ahead for us. Thanks for checking in.

Catch up

Ok it's been awhile. I"ve spent a little to much time reading other people's blogs and not much time updating. Lots of fun things have happened in the past 3 week. Most importantly spring is finally here! Yeah we were outside all day today. Here is a list of highlight from the past three weeks

* On the 5th we had a kid birthday party for Lydia, it was GREAT, no one got hurt, no one fought and it was a very calm party, pretty crazy for a bunch of 3-6 year olds! And no parents complained about the real goldfish that were sent home as party favors. What can I say we had a beach theme and fish go with beaches.

*We finished a round of swimming lessons. Both kids passed. Jonah was NOT impressed that his sister could pass. "But she's only 4!" "How can that be?" oooh and the sibling competition begins.

Last weekend we had lot of company. On Fridat night I had some girls over to scrapbook, it was a fun night. And on Saturday we had some friends visit . It was great to catch up with them.

Last week was very busy, too busy. But I had the opportunity to see my favorite author Roxanne Henke, speak at a women's event at a church in Moorhead. It was about friendship and recognizing the gifts God has for you. It made me feel so very thankful for the wonderful friends God as blessed me with . And Misty. . . write the book!

That brings me to today, Saturday, it was beautiful, I caught up with my neighbors, went for a long walk, fell esleep on the couch with Lydie and had great story time thanks to the Berstine Bear to end the night. And I was worried I wouldn't have anything to do this weekend. See Aaron's helping at a church event all weekend so we had nothing "planned". Here's to having nothing "planned!"

She's 4!

In honor of my sweet Lydie's birthday (yesterday) I'm writing in pink tonight. Lydia is being celebrated several times for turning 4. Last Saturday at Grandma Stevenson's with a great princess cake, and next saturday with her friends at a beach party( at our house), but yesterday was the real deal.

My April Fools baby turned four years old yesterday! Forgive me if I get a little sappy and go into all of the cliche's of mom around the world. But I can't believe the little black haired, scrunched face baby is 4! She was a firecracker of a baby, demanding and always making her opinion known, and really that's still her today, except with a spunky sweetness that can't be mistaken. She's such a big girl.

Here's why we are blessed to have Lydia as part of this family:

* She is spunky, if she likes you, she loves you, if not she'll leave you.
* She's a wonderful little mother taking wonderful care of all her animals and babies, making sure there not sick and giving them a shot if they are.
* She gives the best "squeezes" a hug that could fill you up for the day.
*She uses big words for a little girl like "pathetic" and "delicious"
*She has the best belly laugh in the world, if you hear it, you will laugh.We often joke she should be recorded and on one of those stuffed animals that laugh at you when you sqeeze the belly.
*She is determined and passionate, now some may say demanding and bossy, but we are hoping to chanel that energy into something big some day.

I feel very blessed to be Lydia's mom, thanks for letting me go on and on about her for a bit.

Jonah lost his 3rd tooth today, and was convincing me that the tooth fairty is VERY good at "hunting" for lost teeth. 'She can just smell them out." he said. Never have I thought about the tooth fairt as a hunter, thanks to his uncles for that!

Easter, e-mail, and everything else

EASTER- I'm going to try to put some pictures on here directly from my camera of the the break. It started out not as I planned with Lydia getting sick but ended up just fine. We went to my parents on Thursday after Aaron was done with school. Lydia still had a temp but was better than the two days before, she was much better on Friday and pretty much back to herself by Saturday. On Friday we did the fun farm stuff, fed cows, saw some new baby calves, dyed Easter eggs with Grandma visited everyone on the farm. On Saturday we went to my uncles and had Easter/birthday party for my cousin McKenna who's 7. The kids had a blast and it was fun to see my Grandma and aunts and uncles. I got to see Baby Bjorn. He even came to me! I guess all that talking to him on the phone for the past 6 weeks has paid off! We drove back to Fargo on Saturday night and celebrated Easter at our church Sunday morning and a relaxing day. I was able to have some fun conversations with the kids about why we celebrate Easter and we went through the Easter story with the help of the Resurrection Eggs. They are these eggs that have a something in each of them to represent the Easter story (ie., a crown of thorns, a rock, a spear, etc) Very cool. Ok that covers the Easter part.crown of thorns, a rock, a spear, etc) Very cool. Ok that covers the Easter part.

Here's the kids and my dad and the 3 baby calves. Jonah liked to round them up and Lydia of course liked to pet them, the first thing she said when we got in the barn was "Well what should we name them?"
Jonah was very proud of his "dissappearing" or actually "reappearing ink". You just gotta love white crayons!
Alexis, McKenna and Lydia pretending they are so cool!

Baby Bjorn and his mommy. Thanks for all of you who prayed for him when we had his surgery. He's doing great!

E-MAIL-I got an e-mail today from our social worker saying she sent our homestudy to us to be signed last week and our backround checks/fingerprints came in today. So that means all we have to do is sign and our stuff is officially off and ready to be looked at by birthmoms. I have to admint when I read the e-mail I got this nervous whoosh go throughout my body. My heart did a little flutter, and my brain said wow this is really going to happen, thank you Jesus and please show us the way.

EVERYTHING ELSE- We have been prayerfully considering asking people to help us with our adoption and it is sort of hard to know exactly what to say. So for once in my life I"m not going to go on and on like I usually do , I'm just going to ask you to pray. Pray:



* that God will continue to prepare our family for the baby He has chosen for us

* that in details of this adoption that are ahead, that we will be able to discern what is best for our family and that we won't lose sight of God being in control

* for our babies birthmom that she will feel surrounded by God's wisdom and love

* that God will provide finanial support we need to make this happen for our family

Toothpaste and dissapointment

OK so sometimes I don't do the best with "changed plans" I have been planning for two weeks to go to my sister's today with the kids. I was SOOO looking forward to getting out of Fargo. Lydia came down with a fever yesterday and it lasted all night and through today. I was so dissapointed. She's in the tub right now, and fever free, but we'll see what happens after the motrin wears off. The poor thing just laid on the couch all day and didn't do much.

And me, I was selfish and having an internal pitty party all day. I tried my best to hide it from her, after all it's not her fault she got sick. I'm praying she feels better and maybe we can go tomorrow? I do feel better than earlier thanks to being able to just talk it all out ( thanks aunt J)

Now on to the toothpaste, as I've written before, Lydia does have a thing with toothpaste. The first thing she says to me when she wakes up is "Mommy, I had a dream." "Really what, was it?"

"Well there was a cow and a frog and the cow said "HOWDY FROG!" And the frog said," howdy cow, I have some toothpaste, do you want some?" And the frog shared his toothpaste with the cow and they brushed their teeth together. I"m thinking maybe I could call Crest or Colgate and Lydia could write promos from the toothpaste. That's all for now, I have to get Lydia out of the tub and I promised Jonah some "reading practice time"