YAY!!!!

My mom and brother are coming for a whole week!!! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!!!!:) Hurry up, Saturday!!!!

I Hate Good-Byes

Izaih said, "Albert...will you be my best friend?"
Albert - "You already are, Izaih"
Priceless:)

Best baby EVER!

Albert had never been to the zoo before and we just couldn't have that!

So gorgeous

Albert and Jordyn are going to live with Jordyn's grandmother tomorrow and it is bitter-sweet. Albert is so smart and well-behaved, and he makes me laugh without even trying:) Jordyn is seriously the best baby you could ever imagine. She cuddles and laughs and is happy all the time! We love you, Albert and Jordyn, and we will miss you very much (especially Izaih!)

Whirlwind Post

I am so behind at posting. Life is super crazy these days! A week and a half ago we got 2 new foster babies - Albert is 6 and Jordyn is 13 months. They are precious, just precious! Izaih is in heaven with 2 playmates! He has assumed the big brother role to Jordyn, and has mimicked a lot of Albert's good behaviors (hallelujah!). We are loving having them, but it is very hectic! We were planning to let Izaih stay with another foster family for the weekend so that Mark and I could celebrate our 5 year anniversary, but an hour before we were supposed to drop Izaih off, up came Albert and Jordyn. It was really the perfect way to celebrate anyways since we love kids so much. We're doing what we've always dreamed of!

We also got approved on a loan to buy a house, so we have been out house-hunting with our realtor. We found the perfect house on Cherokee, but the agent representing the seller didn't give us a chance to put in an offer. Some people she was representing also liked the house and she saw an opportunity (I'm assuming) to make a bigger commission. I guess that's just how it goes sometimes. Needless to say, we didn't get the house:( We're sad. But I'm sure a better one will come along that will turn out to be much more perfect than the one on Cherokee. But dangit, I really wanted to live on Cherokee!

Pictures coming soon, as soon as I have more than 10 minutes to myself to try to upload them. How in the world do single moms do it?!

The Shack

I just finished The Shack - it was amazing. If you haven't read it, GO GET IT! I have heard so many things about it being "unscriptural" - a word that just makes me laugh - but for some reason that deterred me for awhile. After reading it, I can definitely say that it is one of the clearest portrayals of God that I have encountered. The book made me feel completely, utterly CHERISHED by God. It's a story of redemption about a man whose little girl was kidnapped, assaulted, and brutally murdered. I know that description doesn't sound like a feel-good story of love, but it totally is. The theology in it is BRILLIANT and also probably a little bit controversial, but it stretched me in my thinking and in my perceptions and assumptions about God. If you've ever struggled with why God has let bad things happen in your life, this is exactly the book you need to read.

Houdini

Izaih is so funny. And way too smart and sneaky for his own good. We have converted his room into a "safe room", meaning that we have taken everything out of it except his mattress and covers. He gets a little fan at night, and of course, all his stuffed animals. We put him in there and have to lock the door when he starts being aggressive and/or unsafe. He usually has to go in there at least a few times each day. He kept breaking his door and the locks we had on it, but we finally have one that he can't break. We also had to jam his window because he kept opening it. Even after that, last week, while in his room, he pulled the entire window out of the frame!!!!!!!! And it is HEAVY!!! He has also started picking up his mattress and moving it around the room. CHILD!!!!

Anyways, so here is how our afternoon went today, after I put him in his room for running away and kicking me in the face:

#1 -He got out by using the plug on his fan to pick the lock. I put him back in his room.

#2 - He then reamerged by picking the lock with a nail he had found and hid in his pocket for whenever he (inevitably) would have to go to his room. I put him back in his room.

#3 - He escaped once more by using the zipper from some jeans that were on the floor to pick the lock. I put him back in his room.

#4 - He came out in his tighty whities after picking the lock with the zipper of the pants he was wearing. Mommy gave up.

A Little Mother's Day Announcement

My cute little domestic Mom


True Love

I am so blessed on Mother's Day to have such a great mom and such a great son! The boys took me to Crepes in the City for lunch and it was YUMMY! Last night I realized that I have officially become one of those moms that talks about their kid nonstop. Friends, strangers, coworkers, at work, at parties, in lines, and everywhere in between. It's like word vomit that just doesn't quit - I can't keep myself from gushing about Izaih!:) By the way, we just learned that his name is IZIAH, not Izaih. WHOOPS! Pronounced differently and everything! How'd THAT happen???

And on that topic, I can't think of a more fitting day to officially announce that we are indeed adopting Izaih! We decided together (all three of us actually) months ago, but have been waiting for things to die down before we made the big announcement. Not sure when the adoption will be finalized. It doesn't really matter to us. He's our son, official or not!

At the humane society checking out potential pets


First day of FRC preschool - Waiting for the bus

Izaih Being Calm

The moments I live for:)

Celebrity Gossip

When it comes to celebrity gossip, I am the worst! I would log onto Perez Hilton several times a day to escape reality, and I would consume myself with the lives of celebrities and all their drama. I was sooooo hateful and judgmental of some of them, especially Britney Spears. I could rant about her with the best of the gossip columnists. Then I heard the song by Bebo Norman that was written for Britney, and I felt very convicted. They're celebrities, but they're also human beings. Human beings with real problems, real struggles, and feelings. The difference is that they are locked in a reality that only cares about how hott they are NOW and spits them out when they become boring (aka healthy and settled) or run out of money. This all happens in the public eye with millions of judgmental jerks (like me) scrutinizing every detail of their journey and pain, criticizing them and discussing how much they suck. It occured to me that, for being so against gossip, I sure was taking part in it a LOT. Instead of taking part in the gossip and scrutiny, I need to set myself apart and love and pray for them, just as I would any person in my life dealing with rehab or their partner's infidelity. I am a week clean of my Perez Hilton vice. Check out Bebo Norman's song - it's playing on my playlist.

If You Read Nothing Else of Mine, READ THIS

My friend, Justin, recently posted this on his blog and I LOVE it, so he said I could repost it. He got it from Jimmy McCarty, who got it from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and convicting.

50 Ways to Love and Serve Those Around You

1. Sponsor a child in a poor country through an organization like World Vision or Compassion International.

2. If you’ve got an extra room in your home open it up to a refugee living in America. You can find such a person in need through organizations like World Relief. (Or maybe you can offer it to a family that just lost their house to foreclosure.)

3. Write or call your congressman or senator and ask them to support public policy that shows mercy, compassion and justice to the “least of these.” Tell them you care about peace. Let them know that you will not give them any more votes if they are not promoting the common good.

4. Give up “your” seat at church to a visitor and then invite them to lunch after service.

5. Go to your local homeless shelter, encampment or “tent city” and offer someone there a job mowing your lawn, cleaning your home, washing your car, fixing your fence or whatever else you need to have done. While they’re at it serve them lunch and some cold lemonade, and then pay them more than fairly for a job well done. THEN recommend their services to all of your friends.

6. Take several friends and provide free condoms and clean needles for those who are in prostitution and addicted to drugs.

7. Pray with them when they desire it. Pray for them always.

8. Start a small group where each meeting the group looks at a different country around the world (Zimbabwe, Congo, North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan are good places to start), studies the social and political climate of said country, studies a relevant scripture that speaks of mercy and justice (not hard to find), provide a meal with food from that country and commits to some act of justice as a group on behalf of the people there and pray specifically for that nation until the next time you meet.

9. Pray for the soldiers and families of those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

10. Pray for the Iraqi/Afghani soldiers, families and terrorists/combatants dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

11. Ask your family and friends to donate any money they would have spent on a birthday/holiday gift for you to a specific charity or ministry. I’d recommend Invisible Children or Mercy Ministries

12. Stand in solidarity with tomato workers who are not being paid fair wages and are often modern-day slaves by refusing to eat at Chipotle until they agree to pay tomato pickers in Florida fair wages and insure their safety.

13. Buy a goat, cow, chicken, mosquito net, well, or some other fun gift for a poor individual, family, or community somewhere around the world.

14. Throw a party at a park, or some other place where the local homeless community gathers, that is open and free to all. Play games, eat good food, have good conversations and make new friends.

15. Offer to provide free babysitting for, Christmas and birthday gifts for, or even to adopt the unborn child someone is considering aborting. Don’t condemn her unless you have done all you can to make it easier for that child to be born.

16. Send a birthday card to the co-worker, boss, ex-girlfriend/boyfriend that you get angry just thinking about. Tell them how you appreciate something about them and that you wish them a day of joy.

17. Become a regular volunteer at a local charity/non-profit/ministry that focuses on serving the young and poor. Be a mentor to someone who may not have one.

18. Take Jesus’ advice and at Thanksgiving invite the homeless, the prostitutes, the AIDS victims, the parolees and immigrants to dine with you. If your family decides to eat elsewhere accept it and if not rejoice!

19. If you live in southern California, New Mexico, Arizona or Texas cross the border on a Sunday morning and have communion/the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist at a local congregation. Do so prayerfully considering the global nature of God’s family and kingdom. Come home and serve your “illegal” sisters and brothers in Christ in your community.

20. Take a group to eat at a restaurant and have every one leave a 50% tip for the waiter/waitress who is spending their night serving you dinner instead of taking their children out or studying for their exam in the morning.

21. Offer your home, or if you can your church, as a place of sanctuary for someone who is threatened with deportation and separation from their family, especially their children.

22. Give money to charities that serve disadvantaged children in both Israel and Palestine.

23. Do advocacy work for those facing death row in your state. Do this especially if you find their accused crime particularly heinous.

24. Find a park that you consider too unsafe for your children to play in or a school where graduation rates are too low to send your child there and work to make it so that it is safe enough/good enough for your children to go there since someone’s children will have to.

25. Start a business and only hire those who are homeless or ex-felons to work there.

26. Buy gift cards to local restaurants and give them to those holding signs on the corner or that ask you for money in a parking lot. Then ask if they’d mind you joining them for the meal.

27. Pray for a political leader you dislike (Maybe Barack Obama or Sarah Palin?), a celebrity you dislike (maybe 50 Cent or Britney Spears?) and for someone at your job/school/church that you dislike. Pray for their well-being and God’s favor upon their life.

28. Do a “water only fast” where you stop drinking anything but water (yes that includes coffee, soda and alcohol!) for a set period of time and donate that money to an organization that is providing clean water for those in places without it. (World Vision is a good option again. So are Water Wells for Africa, African Well Fund and The Water Project.)

29. Seek advice from someone who is a different race/ethnicity and/or gender than you. Really listen to what they have to say.

30. Get a group of people together and map your community for possible slave trafficking.

31. Post this phone number (888-3737-888) and this website (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/) around your community, in your church, in public bathrooms, etc. to let those who are victims of slavery know where they can get help.

32. If you’re young like me (almost 26, wow!) find an older person at your church and ask them about their life. Listen to their stories. Really listen. You’ll learn a lot and love them in the process.

33. Move into a community where you are the minority, learn the culture of the people in the community and live life with them. Be open to learning from the people you are then surrounded with. Worship how they worship, read the Bible with the lenses they read it through, celebrate births/deaths/baptisms/holidays the way they do. You’ll see Jesus in a whole new way and truly live out the call of the church to be of all nations.

34. Ask friends of a different race than you (this implies you must have a significant number of them!) how they are reacting to and interpreting different things going on in society. (The recent election of Barack Obama, conviction of OJ Simpson or the Olympics would have been good opportunities.) Truly listen and learn from their perspective. Reconciliation will be happening before your eyes.

35. Learn the language of the new ethnic community forming in your city. Then go do your shopping in a grocery store in that area and get your hair cut in a barbershop there as well.

36. Bake cookies and give them to your neighbors just because.

37. If the church you attend has a separate “ethnic” service attend it once a month instead of the “regular” service.

38. Stand near the door and give everyone who enters church on Sunday a big hug.

39. Perform civil disobedience in response to a local injustice and be willing to go to jail as part of your witness.

40. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper in response to a local injustice, and if possible have as many people from area churches sign on to it.

41. If possible, rearrange your work schedule to be 4-10hr days and spend that extra day off doing any of the other things on this list.

42. Refuse to be a part of the chain of gossip about someone else; especially about the person you love to gossip about.

43. Be a Big Brother or Big Sister.

44. Use your vacation time to volunteer at a summer camp for kids or doing disaster relief here or abroad.

45. Cook a meal once a week for an elderly person in your church or the single mother/father and her/his children you work with.

46. Volunteer a night to babysit for a couple you know so they can have a date night.

47. Turn an empty lot or other public area into a community vegetable garden. Do this especially if you live in an urban area.

48. Use your professional skills to serve those in need. For example: if you are a lawyer offer pro bono services to the homeless or if you are a teacher mentor an at-risk youth. The options are limitless.

49. Become a foster parent and take in those with no family. Or go a step further and adopt a child with no one else in the world. Or, mentor an emancipated foster youth (16 and up) who may be completely on their own with nowhere to spend holidays, no one to ask for money from when when they need it or have someone older to get advice from.

50. Or you can do what the rich young ruler couldn’t and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor. Then follow Jesus and see what happens…

To Know That You're Alive

Izaih is adjusting to preschool pretty well. The first day we went together for just an hour or so. As soon as we got there, there was a fire drill, which was kind of scary. On his first full day, the bus crashed down the street right before it got here to pick him up. We were hoping really hard that those incidents weren't bad omens!

Good news about my liver. I got some tests back and, to explain it in lamen's terms, my liver was functioning at 77% a few months back. Currently, it is functioning at 88%! I'm very excited! Strict exercise works!

Mark just got an IPhone and he is obSESSED! He's like a child with a new toy! It's cute, though:) Have I mentioned what an amazing husband I have?