Everyone is growing.

The kids have grown so much this past year. Isaac is only about an inch shorter than John and Sam is quickly catching up. He passed me and is super proud about that! I thought I had a while before Levi catches me, but today when we stood next to each other I noticed that he is super close, if not taller. Of course I did NOT mention it to him. No need to start boasting this soon. HA!

The girls are getting so "old" now. What happened to my babies? I don't think they're going to pass me up though. They seem to be on the shorter side of their classmates at school. Noah is one now and is so much fun! We just love that little guy to pieces! It seems like we've never been without him. It's been a great transition for everyone.

Isaac is fervently pursuing his college plans and will hopefully be able to narrow that down by fall sometime. He is doing so well in school and I'm very proud of him. He has plans to be a publisher or editor, so he wants a degree in English. His home school roots are still there--- you can't keep the boy away from books!

Speaking of books, all of the children have turned into avid readers. Sam and Levi are actually on a book-battle team. They have about 20 books to read and will be representing their school to compete against other schools over info from the books, etc. They're excited about it. Some of the authors will even be there. I am so happy that they all love reading so much.

Isaac and I have actually recently discovered "the great books" colleges. I would LOVE to go there. I mean, to send Isaac to one of them. Did I accidentally say I wanted to go????? The whole 4-year program is set up exactly like we home- schooled. Real books and amazing content area and weekly discussions. I'll post more on them later....

John is doing very well. The surgeries were successful last year and he is finally bouncing back to normal a bit. They told us it would take about a year to fully recover. It's amazing what they can do-- remove your entire large intestine and you bounce back in a year!

It's been a great year!

It's a boy!!! Again!

Well, before I update all of the details of the past 8 months, I guess I can start with the biggest surprise (umm, I mean news) of this year-----

We have a new son!!!
Woohoo! God is so good!

This one came as a complete surprise and it was kind of an overnight sort of thing.
The adoption agency we adopted Noah through last year called us about a baby and we needed to decide and send in our info by the next day! It was pretty much a 99% chance that the birth family would not choose us because we didn't fit their original criteria (such as wanting a family with 3 children or less, etc. ummm, we're kind of 2 of those families! ha) So, we were really asked to just be an extra family for them to choose from so they would have some good options.
Long story short....... It's a boy!

His name is Andrew and he has been home with us for 4 weeks now. I'm sure you can imagine how boring of a month that must have been. I mean, what have we done with all of our free time?

Andrew is a precious little guy and we love him so much! He is also sporting "designer genes" like Noah. He has Down syndrome and we're so happy that he and Noah will have each other as they grow up. They will be buddies for life.
They are 9-1/2 months apart.

I never dreamed we would have another baby this year. (or ever!)
It has been such an amazing experience to bring him home.
I just look at him and my heart swells with so much love and awe at God's amazing grace and provision. Sometimes I feel like Job-- he lost 7 children and God graciously gave him 7 more. We had the miscarriage and then David and Hannah died (one with Trisomy 13 and the other with Trisomy 21--Down syndrome). God has given us 2 more. Hmmm..... should I be wondering if there may be another in the future?
We think we're done. :o) Well, that's what we've told everyone. Of course, my brother said, "You're done for the 3rd time, right?" LOL

I couldn't be any happier. It is such a wonderful feeling to have all of these children in our home. We are so blessed! And adoption.... I can't even describe that. Our experience has been amazing. I would highly recommend it if God calls you to do it.

8 months later......the story continues

I've been so busy, I did not realize it had been 8 months since I had blogged. I knew it was a really long time, but really??? wow! Where did the time go?

Of course, I'm sure you can imagine that nothing interesting could possibly have happened in our family in that amount of time. LOL

So, I guess "I'm back" and I'll have to slowly update our past 8 months.

my garden

We put a small garden in this year.  Ike helped John to till up the ground.  We got it in kind of late.  It’s doing great so far.  We only planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, eggplant, okra, all colors of bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, jalapenos and serrano peppers, cantaloupe, and a few herbs.  Next year I would like to have a few of the other things I grew in the past.  I’m just thrilled to have a garden at all this year!

Field day and end of school

Field Day 2010

Megan and her 1st grade teacher.  Yes, she actually chose to wear that bow.  :o)

Ike thought this sign was hilarious!  If you look at the small print, you’ll see the word “NOT” before the word drugs. 

Last day of school for Faith.  She loved her teacher so much.  I hope next year’s teacher is just as wonderful!

Levi also had a great teacher.  We’ll miss her!  He had a great first year of public school!

Noah’s room

Noah is absolutely fabulous!  We are so in love with him!!!  I thought I’d post a few photos of some things in his room.

We bought this used dresser very cheap (!!!) at a used furniture store and painted it black to match his bed and other dresser.  The other dresser is the perfect size for a changing table, so I put his changing table pad on top and have his diapers and things in the first drawer.  The other drawers have sheets and blankets.  I guess I don’t have a photo of it.  I’ll have to take one.

This beautiful picture says, “God is love!” in Chinese.  It belonged to John’s great-aunt who spent her whole adult life as a missionary in Taiwan.  I thought it was perfect for his room!

The words of this sign are so appropriate!  After a 14-year wait, God finally allowed us to parent a child with Down syndrome.  Our Hannah was stillborn in 1996.

Samuel made this beautiful clock for Noah in his pottery class at school 2nd semester.  I think he did a fantastic job!  He designed it himself. 

Faith made the Pooh on the left for Noah while we were in New York for placement day.  It’s so cute!  Megan drew a picture and we framed it above his bed.  I think I forgot to take a picture of it.  I’ll have to do that.

I also have black letters spelling out his name that I need to get the blue ribbon on and hang above his bed.

Nessy, our kitchen help

I’m not really sure this is even a photo to show……  I definitely did not take it!  John came in and found this scene.  Apparently he thought it was pretty funny and snapped a few shots.  I didn’t find it so amusing.  lol  Kind of gross!  She’s a sweet doggy though.  John said she was licking plates.  Sorry, I’m sure that’s TMI.