A Little a This, A Little a That

Hello all! There's been so much going on I barely get a moment to breathe these days! Izaiah finally got a teacher - Ms. Anderson. However, in a school of amazing racial and ethnic diversity, he is the only one in his class that's not fully African American. I'm not entirely happy about that since we chose the school mainly for the diversity. The other 2 classrooms have mostly Caucasian students, with a slew of African American, Asian, Latino, and Middle Eastern children. I don't really understand how that happens really, but I also don't want to be the mom calling to demand that her child be placed into the "white kid room". Race is so complicated.

I started a new job on Monday. I will be working with child abuse hotline investigations and family preservation services with the state of Missouri. So far everything is going well. I really like my supervisor so that's a good start. I've gotten close with some of the people I've been in training with, so that's good, too.

Mark and I had a date night last night and went to see "My Sister's Keeper". Hands down, the SADDEST movie I have EVER seen!!! I cried through the WHOLE movie. It was one of the best I've seen, though. Totally worth it. Just make sure you're alone in your own living room when you watch it.

We're getting to be friends with our next door neighbors. They are really awesome! Ladd and Jen have a 4-year-old daughter, Mya, and a 3 month old little boy, Adrienne. Izaiah LOVES playing with Mya, and they are SOOOO sweet together :) Ladd is a general contractor so he's really helpful with getting the house fixed up. Jen is an artist/photographer. They are really neat neighbors to have!

When we moved in, the neighbors all said that there hasn't been any crime or theft or anything on our block in at least 4 or 5 years. Well, here we come and jinx that. We left the garage door open one day and our car got broken into. No biggie, except that they stole the garage door opener from my car. That was a little unsettling, but not a huge deal.

We are loving having my sister living with us. It's so fun having her and Carlos around all the time.

And the biggest news lately deserves its own post, so that will be the next one. Keep reading :)

Dana Brooke

Dana and I with our kids from the inner city

I was in 8th grade when I met Dana. She was almost three years younger than me, but you'd never know it. We were fast friends and thick as thieves. We went through so much together over the years. I always told people that Dana was my soulmate. No one ever understood me the way Dana did, and we had the kind of friendship that one only finds once in a lifetime.

Over the years we drifted apart, as she moved to Chicago to pursue a career in acting and I moved to Arkansas and got married. There was the presence of an antagonist in there somewhere coupled with me being at a bad place in my life, and Dana drifted completely out of my life. I was distraught over it for years. I know that makes me sound pathetic, but it was one of the hugest losses I've encountered in my life. Dana got into some awful things back in Chicago, and it felt like there was nothing I could do to save her. I cried night after night after night for God to keep her safe and to bring her back to me, but He never did. As she faded further and further away, I grieved her like she was dead. I fought with God over why He would not rescue her, and why He would not rescue me from the guilt and pain of not having her in my life and of feeling somewhat responsible for the hurt and horror she was going through in her own. I wrote her all the time, but could never bring myself to send the letters. I never knew where she was anyways.

Two weeks ago I randomly saw her on someone's facebook page. I wrote her, and before I could agonize over my wording or freak out about whether or not to send it, I pressed 'send'. I cried the whole day, not knowing if contacting her was going to make her upset or make me vulnerable to being hurt again.

Three days later, Dana is sitting on my couch. A couple days before I wrote her, God spoke to her and told her to come back home. He provided a way out of her current situation, and completely rescued her heart and her mind. It turns out that I had written her the day before she left to come home. We spent the next 2 days together in tears and in prayer of thanksgiving for God delivering her and restoring what has been broken.

She has been through sooo much, and she has a really tough road ahead of her. But what once was lost has now been found and I am once again dumbfounded by God's timing and His goodness, even when we think He has forgotten us. There's so much I could say. There is so much evil that has been overcome, and so much hurt that God has begun to heal. What Satan meant for evil, God turned to beauty.

With my Dana back, I am able to laugh again, and it feels really, really good. Please pray for Dana as she starts her life over, and begins a journey of healing and recovery. God has been sooooooo faithful and will continue to be, no doubt. I will praise Him until the day I die.

First Day of Kindergarten

We survived the first day of Kindergarten! Izaiah woke up so excited about school. We all waited at the bus stop for over 30 minutes until we gave up and I took him to school. We picked Ms. Totten as his teacher, but about 2 weeks ago she got promoted. They moved him to Ms. V.'s room, but then hired Ms. Glass, so he got moved to her room. Two days ago Ms. Glass decided she did not want to be a teacher so she up and left. Soooo, Ms. Totten is taking over until they hire someone. Can you keep up with that? :) Hopefully that will be a smooth transition.

Izaiah did not want me hugging him, kissing him, and esPECially not blowing him kisses. My little boy is growing up...*tear*. There were no tears from me today; I am very proud! Fun Fact: I never went to Kindergarten. My mom attempted homeschooling me, and that didn't work out so well! Izaiah got home and said that Kindergarten is "boring". Oh dear.

Everything

I feel like this so much of the time. Distracted, tempted, anxious, hated, depressed, DEFEATED. Thank God we are loved by the creator of Love Himself. Without Him I would be NOTHING.

New House News

We are finally in our new house! It's been a crazy whirlwind! Mark is loving fixing things and I am loving decorating it! Izaih is not loving his new room so much because it has lots of windows. He's still getting used to everything, but he loves having a backyard to play in! I have learned that I really love pulling weeds! Who knew? It's very therapeutic, you should try it. We love our neighborhood! Everyone is so nice and fun. There seem to always be parties and events and team sports to get involved in. I can't wait for Fall!

Today is Izaiah's last day of Preschool. This preschool has been the HUGEST blessing, despite my initial hesitation. Izaiah is doing soooooooo much better, and has really been able to work through some of his past trauma. God has so many great plans for him and his sweet little tender heart. Izaiah is just so wise beyond his years, and it really shows when you would least expect it. He has learned this amazing way of comforting people when they're sad. He is learning what it means to really love people and is finally embracing letting himself be loved. Everything about him is a miracle. I didn't understand how in the world parents could say they love their child more and more every day, but I totally understand it now.

Pictures coming soon!

This Makes Me Happy!

Today was the most perfect day. The weather stayed in the 60's and 70's and was absolutely perfect. We went garage sale-ing this morning, and who knew, but it was actually really fun! Izaiah did GREAT. We got coffee, took a stroll through Tower Grove Park, and browsed the farmer's market. A chocolate shop just opened right by our new house, so I made a point to make friends with the owner at the park today when I saw their booth. So what if I had ulterior motives? ;) We played at the park, rode bikes, splashed in the fountain, and shopped for furniture. This is my kind of Saturday:)

6 more days until we're homeowners!!!!

Izaiah and a Gun

We went to the mall today to make a quick return. On the way out of Cabella's, we let Izaiah out of the cart to look at the turtles. He ran off and we couldn't catch him. We both chased him all around the store. He grabbed a gun and threw it. He ran out of the store and back into the mall. Finally he lost a shoe, tripped, and was caught. Come to find out, Cabellas does not like it when you throw their $1000 guns. They weren't very cooperative in helping us catch him, nor were they helpful when I begged them to issue a Code Adam. Maybe not such a kid-friendly place. And maybe we will never let Izaiah out of the cart - EVER - again!

My Baby is 5!!!!

My parents and my brother came for Izaih's fifth birthday. Actually, my mom and brother stayed for over a week, which was sooo great. We celebrated by taking a tour of Busch Stadium, spending the afternoon at the pool, and then cake and presents! It was wonderful!

Cake compliments of Mark's wonderful and talented friend, Kim

We aDORE my grandparents!

Hannah, Carlos, and David lounging poolside

Izaih was sitting so nicely in time-out...I just couldn't resist a picture :)

Me, Mom, Izaih, and David at Busch Stadium

Mark's brother, Clayton, and his wifee, Melissa
They were actually here a few weeks earlier but we wish they were here for Izaih's birthday, too!

We can't WAIT for Baby Jillian to get here!!!!

Our House!

We bought a house, folks. It all happened really, really fast! We just happened to find it the day my mom came with us and the Realtor, which was perfect. We loved it and knew it would go fast, so we started writing up the contract real quick before the next scheduled appointment came in. If you know me, that's not my style. However, the seller, who lives in CA and rehabs houses all over the states just for fun, said that the reason he decided to rehab this one is because he knew the next-door neighbor and thought he was incredible and really full of integrity and would watch the house while he was gone. Good neighbors are almost more important than the house itself, so that was a big key point. Plus, it's on a cul-de-sac, which is almost unheard of in the city. The home has been totally gut rehabbed and it designed really cool! It's in Fox Park (if you're from STL, it's nestled between Soulard and Lafayette Square) deep in the city. It - is - STUNNING. 117 years old, so it combines that old-world charm with the modern twist I love. We close on July 24th and plan to start moving in that day. I am freaking out just a bit. I can't believe we're about to be homeowners! That officially makes us grown-ups!:)

On a different note, Mark got promoted at work, so he is excited about that. The Crisis Nursery is such a blessing in our lives. Mark could not ask for a better agency to work with. I have 2 job interviews lined up. One is with the Children's Division and the other is a second interview with a women's domestic violence shelter. Izaih starts Kindergarten in one month. The adoption process has begun. All these changes - AGHHHH!!!!! But I love it:)

Living Room

Family Room

Dining Room