...The Adventures of Breagirl...

Girlfriend's Trading Post

2011-12-03T08:13:00.001-08:00

In my pursuit to write something each day, I find myself struggling with topics. I was so used to writing about adoption that I thought when that part of our life seemed to be ending, I wouldn't have anything left to say. Part of me thinks that was probably a little bit of Satan's influence. I also realize that at times, it was hard to have so many people knowing your business. I have a hard time sugar coating things, but sometimes the realness is great to put down but hard to be asked about. Many times when I wrote, I felt like I was writing to myself, not realizing how many people read it. Then, when someone in public would question me about something I had written, I would be shocked...that someone read it, that someone cared, that someone had more questions.

I will never forget getting into an elevator in Nashville and a lady smiling at me. I thought, "oh, she's in a good mood" As I turned around to press the floor I was going to, she said, "your the adventures of breagirl lady, I love your blog" Yeah, it was creepy. Kind of nice, but creepy.

Anyhoo, in my pursuit to start writing again, I've decided to share my perspective on random things until I get back into the habit of writing each day. My sweet MIL Barbara is really encouraging me to write stories about Joshua, but I don't want to neglect the other kids (trust me, writing about Joshua is a full time job) but I might throw a few of those in there from time to time. For now though, I'll be writing random stuff. So here's my random topic of the day:

Girlfriends Trading Post

Now, I've been on facebook for a while. I've been on many boards where people sell stuff (New and Used Gymboree, Matilda Jane Addicts, and many other random ones). This was the first time I was on one for people who buy and sell stuff in the city where I live, Hendersonville. At first, I was honestly a little shocked at the concept because I felt like it could directly impact a lot of local businesses (consignment sales, used furniture stores, etc) and then you start to realize that people are going to use it whether you like it or not, so I started paying attention. I even started selling a few things. That's when I realized these women (including me) are nuts. Seriously insane (I say this with a smile on my face). So, here's the scoop on Girlfriends Trading Post.

Created by a friend of mine at church, she was looking for a way for local families to be able to buy, sell and trade stuff here in our area. Dealing with craigslist and ebay can sometimes be a nightmare, especially having people come to your home that you really don't know. She solved all those issues with this group. So far, I have only bought one thing, which I can't mention as they are Christmas gifts for my kids, but I have been selling like a fool the last few days. I've never seen stuff sell so quick in my life...and at great prices.

My husband is convinced you could crap in a bag and someone would buy it on there. I've seen people list cars, furniture, coupons, clothing...I'm pretty sure if you have it in your home, someone has one or wants one on GTP. Now, here's the best parts. The meet ups. Target has become THE go to spot for doing the "exchange". I get tickled when I am running to Target and see 30 cars at the outer limits of the parking lot with their trunks open. It seriously looks like these women are doing some major drug trafficking in the parking lot. Can't you picture these ladies in trench coats peddling watches that are underneath?

The few times I have met up, this is typically how the exchange goes. Yes, we know what the other person is driving, but we still question, "could this be them?" You smile at the other person, hoping to get a warm response and then you do this, "are you the one with the Christmas lights?" mime. I'm sure it's hysterical to someone watching. Pop the trunk, check out the goods, exchange the goods for cash (exact change please) and drive away with a few extra bucks. I typically drive straight to Starbucks to unload at least $5 of what I just made on a drink and my other new passion, the cranberry bliss bar.

Man, that thing is good. Really, really good. And, they are only available from November until January. It's a very exciting day for me when those suckers come out. They are the reason I will soon be selling my size 8 jeans on GTP because I will have gained so much weight.

Well, that's my rambling for the day. Be sure you check out the trading post and beware, you'll start to sell so much stuff, you might just sell off your hubby or children :)

Fast Car

2011-12-01T17:17:00.001-08:00

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way

Man, every time I hear this song, it brings back memories. Memories of cruising Rivergate mall in my friend Cheryl's VW bug convertible singing at the top of our lungs, memories of listening to this song on "Love Songs" on the radio and wishing I could get away from the most recent boyfriend who had broke my heart, memories of being in college and having this on a mixed tape, yes tape.

So, this is Angie V. For those old schoolers to this blog, she has been mentioned before. A lot. We've been friends since I was 19 years old. We met at a Barbie collectors meeting. Yep, Barbies. I had a collecting bug when I was around 16 and that was when Holiday Barbies were THE thing that people lined up Toys R Us to buy. My sweet Granny was one of those ladies who fought to get me the holiday doll each year. Now as a parent, I personally don't line up for anything, but I truly appreciated that she did that for me.

When a local collectibles store announced in 1999 that they were going to start a club for people that collected Barbies, I was in. I was the first person at the meeting and was a nervous wreck. I knew NO ONE. Now, anyone that knows me knows I don't have a problem talking to anyone, even a wall, but I will admit looking back I was NERVOUS. As people started filing in, I became even more nervous as no one was sitting near me. I felt like the kid who is last to be picked in gym.

Well, guess who was late? Yep, Angie V. Guess where the only seat in the whole room was left? I bet you've figured it out. Neither one of us realized we would become the best of friends when we met that night. Neither one of us realized that she would be there when Granny died, when I had each of my children, that she would be at the airport when we stepped off the plane with Joshua. We also didn't realize I would be there when she lost her mom, Ms. Pat three years ago yesterday.

I'll never forget that day. We had just hung up from a quick chat (which we typically did about 6 times a day) and I had just kissed Jonathan goodbye as he ran to the store for milk. He got in the car and pulled away when the phone rang again. Looking at caller id, I saw it was Angie and laughed because I knew in our typical fashion, she had forgotten to tell me something. When I answered the phone with a "what did you forget!", I'll never forget her voice when she said, frantically, "Brea, I think my mom is dead"

When I think back to that night, those next few days, watching Angie struggle through the shock of loosing her sweet mother, I am reminded of how much I wanted to take my friend's pain away. I almost wished I could take Ms. Pat's place so that I didn't have to see the pain in everyone's eyes. I felt guilty missing her when I knew my pain of missing her was nothing compared to the grief Angie felt. And every time, I think of it, I think of Angie's voice saying it over and over again. Here's a picture of Ms. Pat along with Angie and her sisters, Margaret and Lisa

On November 20th, it happened again.

I grew up with Chris. We met when he transferred to our high school. He instantly became part of our group of friends and I was so excited when he starting dating my best friend since 6th grade, Kim. Chris' home instantly became the hang out spot. Someone in our group was always dating someone in his circle of guy friends, so we would hang out at his house, the guys playing pool downstairs and all the girls piled up in Chris' mom's bed. Sandra, Chris' mom, wanted to know everything about us. She wanted to know who we hung out with and why, who we were dating and why, where we were in our relationship with Christ. I bit my nails (have since I was 2) and I remember she always wore press on nails that she painted bright red.

After Jonathan and I married, we actually bought some property from Ms. Sandra that was right next to her home. We built our second house there. Anna would be playing outside and Sandra would walk over to chat. Anna says she remembers just swinging with Sandra in Sandra's back yard. She loved my children and still loved me. I remember sitting on her bed a few years after we married, answering the same questions: how was my marriage, how many children we wanted and so much more. She truly was interested and listened. Thinking back, I realize that back in high school, sometimes I think Ms. Sandra knew more about me than my own mother. Here's Chris with Sandra (man, I love this pic)

Here's Laura with Sandra:

Here's some fun pictures of Kim and I. Yes, the first is from eighth grade (I think). Second is from our awesome trip to see NKOTB in Chicago:

As years have gone by, I've actually developed a very sweet friendship with Chris' younger sister, Laura. When she and her hubby Josh decided they wanted to add to their family through adoption, she called me. As we talked adoption, we also became friends. Sweet friends. It was nice to find someone as crazy as me that got adoption, especially transracial adoption. As time went on, I don't think I ever told Sandra what her children meant to me. I wish I had. I think she probably knew.

November 11th, Sandra was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. After a successful surgery four days later, things looked promising and Sandra was even moved to start therapies on Saturday, the 19th. On Sunday, the phone rang. I had been asleep with a migraine and had just woke up. As the phone rang, Jonathan told me something was going on with Sandra but he hadn't wanted to wake me. I saw that it was Kim and immediately asked her "what is going on with Sandra?" Kim said, "Brea, she died" in the faintest whisper. I was stunned. stunned. As I asked her what happened, I just couldn't believe this was happening. Sandra had a blood clot that took her very quickly. Chris and Laura's mom was gone.

Again, as I watched their faces over the next few days, I immediately wanted to take away their pain. I can't explain how it feels to be a friend watching your dear friends suffer. It didn't then and it still doesn't seem real. It doesn't seem possible that at 34 and 29 years old, Chris and Laura have lost their mother. Even as I type this, I'm not sure how long it will take for it to sink in. Again, I feel guilty missing her knowing that it sounds so silly when I know that I can't hold a candle to how much they miss her. I want to heal their hearts, I want their mom back.

It also makes me question how people go through a loss like this without faith. As I watched Kim, Chris and Laura at the funeral home, it really struck me at how strong they were. Yes, they are SO sad and miss her so much, but their strength can only be provided as something God given. Watching them process this grief, it has reminded me so much of what is truly important.

As I spent some time with Laura yesterday, I was once again reminded that the stuff of this world is just not important. As she, Angie V and I talked over lunch, it struck me how much both of them reminded me of their mothers. I know both Ms. Pat and Ms. Sandra would be so incredibly proud of their children and how they have processed their losses.

All that to say, I will remember so many things about those days right after Sandra died, but I will never forget Kimberly's voice when she called. The impact her beautiful voice would have on me. How much I would hurt for my friends. How much it would remind me of Angie loosing Ms. Pat. How much it would put my life back in perspective.

Laura encouraged me to write again, and I think it's time. It's time to start putting my thoughts down into something tangible, if for no other reason, so my kids can look back and see what an insane nut I was. I hope my kids speak the beautiful words that Chris and Laura spoke about their mother last week, "Well done, Mom, well done"

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way

Refreshing

2011-11-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

My friend Laura reference this blog on facebook today:http://www.livingdevotionally.com/2011/11/my-struggle-with-being-a-stay-at-home-mom/ and I have to say it's one of the most refreshing posts I've read in a while.

I spent a lot of time in the word this weekend, thinking and praying about the path my life is on. There are so many things that came to mind and I thought I would share a few with you:

1. Friendships: I find myself looking at the people I surround myself with and trying to figure out what God commands of us in these relationships. I want to be surrounded by people who are real and have the same values as me. I find that even though I don't mind confrontation, many times I am a total pushover and maybe don't speak my mind when I disagree with something simply because I don't have the energy to confront. I really want to get back to the basics of finding true, God centered relationships. The Lord has put many people in my path that are just that for me, but many times I think I get watered down on surface friends which in turn makes me slack on those true friendships. It's something I'm committed to working on.

2. My marriage: Jonathan is such a wonderful man, but I know I have seriously taken him for granted the last few years. With all the changes of selling the consignment sale, starting a new business, dealing with some emotional issues, etc. he has constantly been right there holding my hand and yet I have totally taken it for granted. Like the blog post above, I find that many times, I am so exhausted by life that at the end of the day, he is the one in the kitchen cooking dinner just so I can have some peace and quiet and not hear "mommy!" for 30 minutes. As I look around, I realize that this is so rare and I need to appreciate it more.

3. My children: I find that sometimes I spend more time being frustrated with them that I rob them of joy in the little things. I want to be more committed to getting down in the floor and playing with them, turning off the tv, and teaching them. No, I have no interest in home schooling, but I can still teach them by reading to them more, singing, and doing some fun worksheets and working on art. It's not that I totally neglect it, but I do certainly look forward to mother's day out and naptime more than I probably should.

4. My family: Again, this is an area that I struggle with in time management. I was thinking the other day about how little I've seen my sweet nephew, Baden. He's already 6 months old and I feel like I have missed so much. I need to make more time to just sit down with them.

5. Giving: Although we tithe like clockwork, sponsor a ton of kids internationally, etc., I think some of this has just become "habit". I want to make an effort to do something out of the box if for no other reason to teach our children. It's time to stop filling our house with stuff and getting back to the basics. We are doing some serious fall cleaning and I hope to literally be able to show the kids how giving stuff away truly impacts others.

So that's where I am right now...I know I will continue to struggle but it helps to have some accountability partners to remind me when I am slipping backwards instead of stepping forward.

What are YOU doing this weekend?

2011-10-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

I think most of you know that I constantly have my hands in about 3 million different projects. I can't stand to sit still and I love a good challenge.That's why Candy and I started buying out children's boutiques a few years ago. At first, we were just buying out overstock from local children's boutiques and then word of mouth spread and suddenly, we were picking up overstock from boutiques all over the U.S. Then the economy went into the crapper and lots of our favorite stores closed their doors because suddenly high end children's clothing was not at the top of anyone's list of priorities. It forced Candy and I to reevaluate if we would continue buying and if so, at what price. At that point, we started buying Gymboree and people at the sales really seemed to love that. A few weeks ago, a great opportunity fell into our lap and we couldn't resist. $97,000 of high end boutique children's clothing. We were pumped until it arrived 7 days after we planned meaning we didn't have time to get it tagged for Encores North. So, here we sit with 2 huge pallets of children's clothing that we don't want to sit on.We tossed around a few ideas and decided that ultimately we wanted to give our friends the first opportunity to shop it. Candy works full time and I have the crew so we couldn't figure out the best way to do this and that's when we decided to do another yard sale. You see, three years ago when we were in the process of adopting our fifth child, we had this amazing yard sale where we sold all this new with tag boutique clothing for one set price. It went amazingly well!So, we are doing it again. This Saturday, October 29th from 7am-2pm we are having a MASSIVE yard sale. We will have random crap like any yard sale, but we will also have over 1000 pieces of new with tags children's boutique clothing. The best part? It's all $5 per piece. Yep, $5. Dress? $5. Pants? $5. 3 Piece Set? $15. There are some amazing deals here. Boys and girls, mainly sizes 2T-girls 16 and boys 20. Brands like ELand, Trish Scully, Baby Lulu, SPUDZ, Le Top, etc. etc. It is a mix of all seasons, but definitely heavier on Spring/Summer.Want to be the first to shop? We need LOTS of help this week. We are trying to get everything on hangers, organized, and ready to sell. Our goal is to have everything organized by sex and size on racks so it will be easy to shop. It will be held in my driveway and garage and although it will be cold, it will be worth it, I promise. I'll be updating this throughout the week with pics, so definitely check and TELL YOUR FRIENDS! We want this stuff GONE so our men will not be mad that our garages are FULL! More details to come, but get ready to get your shop on :)

No Promises...

2011-10-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking and soul searching the last few weeks. A lot has changed for me in the last year and many events forced me to put a lot of things on the back burner, but recently, I've been trying to gain some perspective and putting the truly important stuff first. The stuff that brings me joy.

When I used to blog a lot, it was mainly about adoption which is something I am still very passionate about, but I sort of relate it to this: when the twins were born, I found a ton of support through the multiples club as no one else truly got it like other moms of multiples. Then, one day you realize that clubs like that aren't really necessary anymore because they stop being "twins" so much and become two individual people who have their own voices and can decide what they want to wear. The friendships I made around the twins have continued to this day, but my need for a social outlet only for other twin/triplet moms definitely left as they got older. The same with adoption. The friendships I have made while going through the process two times are lifelong friendships, many of which, I can't imagine not having in my life, but I cherish those relationships now because they are amazing women and we have adoption in common, not that we sit around and only talk adoption.

So, that brings me back to my blog. I think for some time I didn't want to blog anymore because I didn't have something earth shattering to say about adoption, but as I have really focused more on what's important, I think it might be time to step back in this arena and talk about my life in general. I have a lot of stories, laughs, pics, etc. to share and I'm just making sure that by saying I am going to start blogging again, it's not something on my ever growing list that I don't follow through on.

What have I been doing the last year? Well, raising kids. Anna turned 13 in September which officially means we both want to kill each other pretty much non-stop. I am very thankful that she truly is a good girl with great values and an awesome relationship with the Lord, but every time I see her roll her eyes at me when I tell her to do something, I'm reminded that it's totally payback from how I treated my mom (who also probably wanted to kill me). Isaac and Luke are getting ready to be 10. Watching the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 brought back so many memories of me being on bed rest and watching in horror what was going on in the world around us. Both boys play basketball and love art and wear a size 7 men's shoe. Yep, they are going to be giants!

Mary Elizabeth turned 4 in August. She has enough personality to fill a gym and J and I always laugh how "everybody knows Mary" She makes anyone smile with her toothy grin, pink glasses and sassy outfits. She loves playing pretend with anyone who pays her attention. Just last week, Joshua had her on a pretend leash telling her to lap up her water from a water bowl (actually a tupperware container he had somehow gotten out of the cabinets that are child locked). She loves going to mothers day out 2 days a week. Joshua turned 2 in May. I'm not sure there are adequate words to describe him except to say the boy has my heart and although he makes me want to scream every day, one look with those beautiful eyes or him simply saying "love u mommy" makes me melt. Hands down, he is the wildest of the bunch and can make anyone laugh.

J and I celebrated 14 years of marriage in June. FOURTEEN. Sometimes I don't feel like I am 14, much less that I've been married that long. We joke with people and tell them "can you believe it, we actually STILL like each other" The best part? It's true. We have so much fun together and it's nice to go to bed next to your soul mate and best friend each night.

As for me, well, lots has changed for me. I sold my business, contemplated going back to college (still thinking on that one) and started a new business. I am now working for an amazing company called Matilda Jane Clothing. I had been buying their clothing for Anna and Mary Elizabeth for years and when my amazing boss asked if I might be interested in working for them, I prayed about it for a few days, God gave me an amazing sign, and I signed on the dotted line. I can't say enough great things about the company. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the product otherwise I wouldn't be selling it, but the people that make up Matilda Jane is what makes me truly passionate about my new job. The owners are awesome and very hands on with us. They truly want us to be successful and yet want to keep it an intimate, hands on type of an event for the customer. They don't want Matilda Jane to be a household name which I love. It's a very unpredictable company, but as consistent as they come and everyone working there has had my best interests at heart. I've already made some great friendships with my fellow trunk keepers and I intend to do this as long as the Lord will allow me to.

I guess that gets you up to speed on our life. We still don't have a dog (and momma doesn't want one), we still fall into bed each night dead dog tired and we still anticipate what's next for our crew, but we know who's in control and that's all that matters.

I hope to keep this going, but no promises...

School Days

2011-03-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

I've recently been thinking about going back to college to complete my degree. The thought of being the adult in the classroom actually makes me a little sick, simply because I remember how mean the "young adults" were to them.

When I graduated from high school, I had one thing on my mind: volleyball. I played in high school and LOVED it. When I got offered scholarships for academics AND volleyball, it was a no brainer. I was going 2 1/2 hours away from home to continue playing the sport I loved.

I was a little, shall we say, sheltered growing up. Being away from home offered me all the freedom I thought I wanted, but it also offered all the opportunities to try all the things I had never really done: drinking, going out, etc. I played my heart out when it came to volleyball, but I also drank myself to death and got involved in a relationship that was not the smartest decision. By the end of freshman year, I had lost my academic scholarship, was heartbroken, and felt like I didn't know who I was.

I spent the next two years college hopping. I went to Western KY and then came back home after I got married to J and went to Vol State. My grades drastically improved, but when I found out I was pregnant with Anna, school became the last thing I was worried about and I quit after my junior year.

Now, knowing that in 5 short years, Anna will be heading off to college, I worry that she might try to use me as an excuse to not go. I can literally hear her now saying, "that's so not far, mom didn't finish college and she turned out fine." I also worry that it could end up costing us a small fortune for me to finish and ultimately, I'm not even sure what I'll do with a degree. Secretly, I've been thinking for years about going back to school to become a nurse, but I know that's a HUGE undertaking and with having small kids at home, I'm not sure our family is ready for that.

So, that's where I am right now in regards to school. I'm just going to continue praying about where God wants me and hope that some doors or answers reveal themselves pretty soon.

Tomorrow's Another Day

2011-03-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

I could start off by telling you all the reasons I haven't blogged in a while, but I figure rather than boring you with all that stuff, I'm just going to start fresh.

Today, I woke up and felt refreshed. renewed. energized. excited. You see, there are big changes coming for our family in my area of work and although some aspects of it do make me sad, this is definitely a positive change for our family. It's a decision we've been praying over for years and finally felt the time was right about 6 months ago to make a change. We took a leap of faith knowing that many wouldn't understand and the big news will be revealed by the end of next week.

I'm a little nervous about everyone's response and I'm praying that rather to jumping to conclusions, people will feel comfortable enough to come to me and talk about the changes versus starting rumors and stirring the pot. I'm praying that others will be able to see what a positive thing this is for our family. I'm praying that people will see that it was time to focus on our family more so than everyone else.

That's really a tough one for me, as I typically put myself dead last. I'm definitely a giver and would prefer someone else's happiness over my own. That's what I struggle with the most...that this decision will seem selfish and yet I realize that it was time to put myself and our family first.

All that to say, I'm not sure what tomorrow is going to bring career wise. I know that today I enjoyed just hanging with my kiddos. We went to lunch with daddy and went to Best Buy to buy a new vacuum. We played with sticks in the front yard and ate messy snacks. I didn't answer the phone one time today if it had anything to do with business. And it was good.

Tomorrow's another day, and I'm thirty anyway, so bring on the rain. Trust me, I'm ready.

Adoption: The Child's Story

2010-09-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

I was recently talking with a fellow adoptive mom (who just also happens to be a great friend) and the topic of sharing your adopted child's story with others came up. I guess because we are friends, we know the story behind our children's adoptions. You know, the things like where they were born, the reason their birthparents decided to form an adoption plan, etc. She asked me if I shared this with everyone or just with family and close personal friends? It prompted me to write this post.

I feel like my children's story is just that: it's THEIR story. It's really no ones business and if I choose to share it with family and very close friends, I feel like that is ok...but a random stranger I meet in a grocery store? Absolutely not. And let's not kid ourselves...I've been asked by complete strangers. Now I know you are probably reading this thinking, "no way", but yes, I've been asked things like "was she a crack baby?" or "why didn't his mom want him?" by complete strangers.

So, I'll start there.

If you learn nothing more from this blog, PLEASE don't ask someone you don't know that well the story behind their child's adoption and PLEASE don't be so idiotic to make statements like "why didn't his mom want him?" Questions like that personally make me want to vomit, and they make my blood pressure go to stroke level when some silly question is asked in front of my older kids because even though the babies may not understand you, my 11 year old and 8 year olds do. And guess what? When we get in the car, the first thing they are going to ask me is why my son's mom (who they know) didn't want him. Or what a crack baby is.

If you happen to be an adoptive parent reading this, I strongly encourage you to really think about what you are sharing with anyone and everyone about your child's story. Although I believe most people probably mean well, you have to think about what will happen down the road when someone could possibly say to your child, "you are so lucky your mom and dad saved you from a life of XYZ."

Yes, it's each of our decision to share what we want to, but for us, there are some things that are better to be shared only with the child. If my adopted children want to share their story one day when they are old enough to fully comprehend, that will be their choice, but until then...it's their story.

Adoption: Meant to Be?

2010-09-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled on a blog post where the author was talking about adoption and how it was meant to be that her children came to her through adoption. I'm actually a little mad at myself because I have no clue how I found this post, and honestly as I read it, it didn't really stir up a lot of emotion in me at the time. Then, I dreamed about it that night and I have spent the last week waking up at different intervals during the night (because of my abdominal pain) and that blog post (or at least the ideas behind it) have been one of the first thoughts to pop in my mind.

Were our adoptions meant to be?

I'm not sure how I can honestly answer that question and get all the things I WANT to say into a coherent post, but this is the analogy that comes to mind.

A person is in kidney failure. They are going to die if they don't get a kidney. They desperately want a kidney, might even be a little angry with God that the body that he created for them doesn't work properly and secretly wish that someone else would give them a kidney. One day, they get a surprise phone call....a woman was killed in a car wreck, but was an organ donor and her kidney is a match. Was that meant to be? Was it meant to be that she had to die to save your life?

In my mind, it's sort of the same way with adoption. Some couples just can't have babies. Some women can't find the right man but desperately want children. Some people (like us) have just always talked about adoption and it just seemed like the next logical stop to pursue after years of planning and prayer. But does that mean that it was "meant to be" when we do adopt that child.

Are our adopted children the loves of our life? Are we completely joyous that they are now our children? YES!

I think God intended for all children to be with their parents. It's unnatural to take a child away from his mother. And yet, in reality, it happens. Parents can't take care of their child because of financial, emotional, and a whole other hosts of reasons. Heck, some parents just don't want to do it. This leads to many things, one of which being the option of adoption.

I guess my feeling is that it was meant to be that we weren't supposed to sin from the beginning, but eating that fruit from the tree landed us here at the crossroads of so many people in the adoption triad arguing about issues like this. Who's right? Who's wrong? Is it all so black and white?

Here's what I know: I don't personally buy into the whole "they are better off" when a child is adopted, because let's face it...they aren't. They would be better off to be parented by the natural parents in the country they are born in. They would be better off if things like drugs didn't interfere with their parents raising them or health crisis like AIDS didn't kill their father. They would be better off if they had three warm meals a day. They would better off to live with their natural family who loved them than to ever have to deal with the unnatural loss they will eventually feel. And yes, all adoptees will deal with loss at some point, because they have lost a relationship with parents that God intended to occur.

So, meant to be...yeah, I don't buy it. Am I incredibly blessed to have two amazing children that I didn't give birth to? YES! But in a perfect world, the loss that occurs with adoption wouldn't exist. There wouldn't be children in orphanages waiting for their families, there wouldn't be a black mother in OH not having enough choices of adoptive families for her child, and there certainly wouldn't be all the older "unadoptable" children praying someone will find value in them sitting in foster homes.

I just don't want either of my children's firstmoms to ever think that the sole reason they carried their child was for me. It just seems so selfish on my part. Am I thankful they choose us? Yes! But for my children's sake, I wish both of their mother's situation was different so that they didn't have to make the difficult decision that they did.

Creepy People

2010-09-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

This blog post is to all the nutjobs I have encountered in the last 24 hours in my doctor's office waiting room. In the last day, I have successfully had an ultrasound, bloodwork, an exam and a CT scan with contrast. Since each of these events were independent of each other, that means I have sat in a total of four waiting rooms in the last 24 hours of my life.

I guess it would be different if I felt good, but I've got some pain so I haven't been my normal happy go lucky self which could explain why the insane behavior I witnessed literally grated on my last nerve.

It all started yesterday when I went for an ultrasound. I knew I was going to need to bite my tongue the minute the LOUD couple entered the waiting room. He was old and gross and she was very pregnant. I'm guessing she wasn't a very bright woman because she was with Mr. Old and Gross. They brought their precious little 18 month old demon with them who Mr. Old and Gross referred to as Mr. Junior the whole time I was waiting. "UH OH, I THINK MR. JUNIOR HAS POOPED HIS PANTS," Mr. Old and Gross said loudly. Really? I couldn't tell from the foul smell that was filling the room as precious little Mr. Junior ran all over. "MOMMA, I THINK MR. JUNIOR HAS A GIFT FOR YOU IN HIS DIAPER," he continued to LOUDLY proclaim. I was just wondering why Mr. Old and Gross wouldn't just go change Mr. Junior....but he didn't.

While I continued to wait, a very attractive black woman came into the waiting room and sat next to me. She quickly buried her head into a magazine (probably to keep from gagging on the poop smell) and about that time Mr. Old and Gross picked up a copy of People magazine with Sandra Bullock on the cover. "WHY DO YOU THINK SHE HAD TO GO AND ADOPT A BLACK KID?" Mr. Old and Gross asked his wife/girlfriend/incubator. "Well, honey, I'm sure cause they are easier to get and cheaper," she replied. I wanted to kill them. Literally. At that moment they called me back, and I seriously thanked the ultrasound technician for getting me out of hell. "Oh no, what happened," she asked. I told her she would be finding out soon enough because the LOUD couple were up after me. Lucky girl.

My next visit was to the exam today. That waiting room was pretty normal. Following my exam, it was time for bloodwork. Yep, another waiting room. I've actually had bloodwork drawn at this location before, so I already knew they keep the prep room open and you wait right outside the door. What I didn't expect to see was the poor girl getting her blood drawn RIGHT INSIDE THE DOOR. Ewww. I mean seriously, shut the freaking door peeps. And I guess I should say, attempting to get her blood drawn, as they COULD NOT GET A VEIN. I waited for 30 minutes and I personally watched them stick her 9 times and who knows how long they had been going before I got there. They had to tell her to come back tomorrow so the poor girl who looked like a pin cushion at this point left without even giving up the goods. I should have realized at this point that it was a SIGN of things to come. They were able to get blood from me on the first stick, so I was quickly out of there.

Next, it was on to a CT scan at Baptist Hospital. After waiting for a few minutes and enjoying a 2 year old Southern Living in an empty waiting room, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN things were not going to be good when the tech brought in a Route 44 size vanilla shake for me to drink before my scan. Yeah, I don't like vanilla. At all. "Drink it quick," she said. "You have to wait 90 minutes after you drink it to start the scan." Lovely. I slurped down the Route 44 nastiness and settled in with my magazine wishing I had brought a book. That's when the cute little old couple walked in to my quiet, empty waiting room. "Aren't they a sweet little couple," I thought to myself.

Then she pulled out the nail clippers.

I will take this moment to tell you I. CAN'T. STAND. THE. SOUND. OF. SOMEONE. ELSE. CUTTING. THEIR. NAILS. Not even my cute little hubby or my precious little angel children. I'm a little sick just thinking of the sound while I type this.

She proceeded to trim ALL HER OLD FINGERNAILS and let the clippings fall to the floor. She even stood up at the end to let the loose trimmings in her lap fall to the floor. I tried really hard to snap a pic of this on my phone without being caught, but it just wasn't possible, because as I said....we were the only ones in the room. At this point, the vanilla monster I had just inhaled was making me feel sick, the waiting room was freezing and I just wanted to get the heck out of dodge.

Finally, Art called me back. Art was a cute little man who told me he'd been doing CT scans for 33 years. I hop on the table (that's a lie, I laid down on the table like the old, hurting woman that I am) and Art told me he needed to start an IV to run the contrast. No problem. "I have great veins," I tell Art. I was wrong. I don't know what happened between my happy little lab stick and the CT scan, but I guess all my veins decided to have a little party and got too tired to stick out. Art COULD NOT find a vein. He finally found one on his fourth attempt.

So, here I am with still no answers on what is wrong with me, enough bandaids on my arms you would think I've been in war, and some great stories from the creepy people in the waiting rooms. Can't wait to see what tomorrow is like!

Been a "little" busy

2010-09-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

So, yeah, life the last few months has been nuts. We've officially wrapped up another consignment sale, Anna broke her ankle during the sale and just got her cast off on Tuesday, Mary Elizabeth turned 3 on August 7, Jonathan and I started on a co-ed kickball league, and I injured myself working out on August 28. Needless to say, I'm glad August is over.

I go to the doctor today to find out if and when I will be having surgery. I'm just praying they can do whatever they need to do without literally cutting me open. I'm not a huge fan of being put to sleep. I don't like not being in control (shocking, I know) and I really don't like not remembering what I say or do as I come out of surgery. Also, I'm a little nervous about not being able to pick up my kids. I love a good bear hug from Josh or dancing around the house with Mary, so the idea of not picking them up for a while pretty much sucks.

I have a little bit of "new to us" car fever right now. It's not too bad, because as anyone that knows me would attest, if it was really bad car fever, I would have already bought one. I would describe the fever as more of a "weighing my options" type fever. I'm trying to decide if I want to enter the magical world of a mini-van again. Have I finally recognized that driving a swagger wagon that gets better gas mileage might not be as cool looking as my gas sucking Suburban, but it sure is more convenient and cheaper? Plus, the leather on my driver's seat is really cracking and it is itching me to death when I drive so that's sounding like a good reason for a "new to me" car. My friend Jenn has a minivan she calls her swagger wagon, so I've already decided that I like that name and will be naming my "new to me" van Swagger Wagon The Second and calling him/her Deuce. That is, if I buy one. We're looking at Honda Odyssey vans, which is my personal favorite. Do I want one with a DVD player is my next question? We've never had a car with that and honestly, the idea of driving down the road with Caillou blaring makes me want to have a small panic attack even while I type.

On the car note, I pulled off my best surprise EVER in August. I surprised Jonathan with a Jeep. He had always talked about buying a Jeep "one day" and I decided that there was no time like the present to buy one. I put my dad AKA the jeep master on the job and we found it within a week in Bowling Green, KY on craigslist (are you counting here? this is the third car we have now bought off craigslist) Dad went and picked it up for me, detailed it and brought it down and parked it in the fire lane during the consignment sale. The fire lane was a huge area of contention during the sale because people kept parking in it so we were constantly making announcements for people to move their car so the fire marshall wouldn't show up yelling at us. Jonathan arrived after work to Natalie making the announcement "if you have a white jeep in the fire lane, please come move your car" After making the announcement several times, I handed the key to Jonathan and told him to go move his jeep. His face was priceless. "Whatever" he said. "That's not my Jeep!" He continued to argue with me until I walked outside and got in the Jeep, pulled out the title and showed it. For the next 10 minutes, he drove me around in shock finally asking "how much did you spend?" which I knew was driving him crazy.

I tell you, the man is in love. I can't tell you how many people have called or emailed to say they have seen Jonathan driving around town and he has a big grin on his face. It has it's own space in the garage, which should tell you how in love he is as NOTHING has ever parked in the garage because it's always so full of crap. He came home that night, cleaned out one side of the garage and she has been parked in there every night since. His big decisions in the morning are things like "do I take the top off today?" My dad even gave him a Jeep shirt which at first he thought was silly, but he now proudly wears every other day. It's cute and I'm glad to see him so thrilled with his new toy. He works really hard for our family and he needs to have something he can tinker with.

The kids love it too! The boys have already figured out how to grab the bar in the back and swing themselves in. The babies love it too. It made me EXTREMELY nervous the first time they rode in it, but Jonathan promised me they would be securely strapped in their carseats and he was right, they LOVED it.

So, that's the update on us. I'll keep you posted on surgery, minivans and the other crazy happenings in our life. Until next time...

Adoption Disruption

2010-05-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

It's all around me and it hurts my heart.

What is it? disrupting an adoption. This basically means you bring home a child/children and parent those said children for any amount of time before you realize that this might not be a good fit. The child may have some serious health issues you weren't made aware of. The child my have a difficult time attaching to you, the new adoptive family. The child may want to physically harm you or their other siblings (whether biological or adopted).

I write this to shed some light on it. We have many friends in my different walks of life right now that are unfortunately learning the meaning of that ugly word "disruption." I'm sure it feels no different than having a huge FAILURE stamped on your forehead and yet, until you've walked in their shoes, it's easy to say YOU could deal with the issues they are facing.

What if you found out your newly adopted child was sexually assualting another child? What if you found out your newly adopted child was full of rage, wanted no part of this life and threatened suicide constantly?

I feel that God put me in this part of my life to be a listening ear and a shoulder to lean on. I don't understand what disrupting an adoption entails, but I do know that as an adoptive family, you have so many eyes watching you all the time and this must be 10 times worse.

Adoption is not always sunshine and roses...it most certainly can be, but in the pit of it you find a lot of pain. Pain from a mom who couldn't parent her child and chose a family for him to go live with. Pain as she wonders how her child is doing 6 months from now. Pain in your heart when your adopted child asks you questions you can't answer because the birthmom wanted the adoption closed. Pain when your child begins the search for his birthparents not even knowing if they will even want to meet him. Pain from a child leaving behind his people, his land, his friends to come to the U.S., the land of promise when all he wants is his old home back.

It's all around me and it hurts my hurt.

Haiti: Part 9 THE FINALE

2010-05-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the final installment of Jay's journal to Haiti. He, my hubby J, and five other guys went to Haiti April 26-May 2. If you are just now catching this, you might want to start at the beginning.

Haiti: Part 1 & 2
Haiti: Part 3 & 4
Haiti: Part 5 & 6
Haiti: Part 7 & 8

Here's Jay, the author, who graciously let me publish this to my blog:

Part 9: The flood, the flight, the fight, and the finish.

It took me a few phone calls to get through to Shantel. I could tell she's upset. "There is a flood." We hadn't watched television or news, or really heard anything about back home in several days. "There is water in our back yard, the kids basketball goal is floating... I've started carrying important things upstairs." Naturally, I figured she was over reacting. Then she sent me pictures. Then the news came in from Nashville. Flooding everywhere. Highways and roads being closed. Shantel couldn't get out of our subdivision. The small creek in our back yard was a giant raging river and the community was surrounded by water. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. I heard words come from my mouth, "It's just a house. Take care of the girls, you'll be fine."

The guys all started calling home getting various reports. The biggest flood in Nashville history, cars, and people, and buildings being swept away. While we were at the beach our homes were being threatened. We called friends, and family, and church members. Story after story piled in, and it looked like we would be coming home to a different place. Saturday night we packed up, and knew we would make it to Miami, but had no idea if they would let us back into Nashville.

By 5:30a on Sunday I was packed and ready to go. One back pack was all I brought home. We opted not to drive the road back to Port Au Prince so we wouldn't miss our flight from Haiti to Miami, and instead were flying a charter plane from Jacmel to Port Au Prince. The Jacmel airport was an over grown driveway with no planes anywhere around. One plane would fly in, pick up passengers and turn around. We were the first people at the "airport." we let ourselves in. A man sleepily showed up at the door of the "airport" (that we never actually walked in) and took down our names and birth dates. About 6:30a a small plane dropped in on the driveway, squeeled to a hault and then turned around. We were on the 15 passenger plane and ready for take off in under 2 minutes. It was a little unnerving to see the pilots hand hanging out the window at the front of the plane. There was no systems check, or refueling, we just rode down the driveway turned around, and then blasted down the "driveway" right at the "airport" and at the last moment, flew away. The flight lasted 15 minutes at most. Flying over Haiti was saddening. Seeing the devastation from a few thousand feet at most was almost overwhelming. It was easy to see how thousands of people died. Concrete homes with little to no building regulations toppling over and crushing entire families, and businesses, and hospitals. Tent after tent, after make-shift shelter littered the landscape.

A taxi-van driver whipped us over to the Port Au Prince airport from where our charter flight landed. I have no idea why it didn't land where we were flying from, but in Haiti, you didn't ask too many questions. Re-entry into Port Au Prince airport was kind of nice. We sat in an air conditioned lobby with mostly English speaking people heading back to the United States. Tons of relief workers and doctors; I met a nurse who saw over 450 patients in five days and a construction crew that build 43 houses in a week. I felt very inadequate, but equally inspired by care and concern being shown to a place that could easily be forgotten.

No one was holding up signs and cheering for us when we walked off the plane in Miami, but I felt like kissing the ground and hugging everyone I saw. Most of the people I wanted to see were Ronald McDonald, the Burger King, and Mr. Coca Cola himself. We walked with purpose to find out how we would get home. Nashville flight: CANCELLED. We knew getting home would be a fight, but it didn't sting any less seeing it on the plasma paneled flat screen. We went straight to the counter and started working out the details. The airline had booked us for 11:20 pm Tuesday night to head back to Nashville. Unacceptable. We thought about Louisville, Memphis, Knoxville, and even Birmingham. BOOM. decided. Before I knew it, we were being booked on a flight to Knoxville for 8pm that evening, and would land at 10:30p. Then we would drive as far as we could, and hopefully be home that evening. The guys I traveled with were calling rental car companies, hotels in between Nashville and Knoxville and their wives for permission before I even knew what happened. They were ready for this fight, they had trained, and they had frequent traveler miles burning a holes in their pockets. Gung Ho was being gung ho, and Kevin was searching for Marlins tickets. I just kinda watched what was happening to me, and trying to call my wife.

The water had gone down a little and Shantel was much more calm. Amazing neighbors and church friends had checked in on her, and the situation had slowed a bit for her. The rest of Nashville was a different story. More rain was coming, and the worst would not be over for a while. 30 and 40 miles of interstate were being closed down, and entire communities were disappearing under flood water. We just wanted to get back to what was left of home.

We split up in two taxis, with over 8 hours before our flight to Knoxville would take off, and decided to go to a Marlins day game. I wasn't thrilled about this. Sitting outside was the last thing I wanted to do. To my surprise, no one in Miami knows there is a major league baseball team that plays in their town. We walked in for free. I counted 847 people at the game. This was good for us. Somehow, gung ho talked our way into the club level section, and before I knew it, we were seated in the shade. We danced the chicken dance, we screamed charge, we ate hamburgers and hotdogs, and watched baseball. Then, I remembered, there was a lounge inside. We wandered into a mixture of an airport terminal lobby and a super sports man cave. There were flat-screens everywhere playing the game we were watching, other games that were being played, sportscenter, and the 1986 major league baseball all-star game. I ate ice-cream while sitting in a leather chair and watching Cal Ripken Jr. and Barry Larkin play ball. The tragic turn of events was not lost on me; less than 6 hours before I was in a third world country. Now, I was in a climate-controlled house of worship for a child's game. I still ate my ice cream though.

We taxied back to the airport and continued our waiting game. I wasn't even sure we would make it to Knoxville. The flooding was everywhere, and the news was reporting deaths. The Opryland Hotel was evacuated and people who were in luxury suites were now in a high school gym laying on the floors without pillows or blankets. I just wanted to hold my wife and hug my children. Instead, we played spades in a airport cafeteria. It was a fight to stay sane. It was a fight to be polite. It was a fight just to get home.

By 8pm we were all spread out over our third airplane flight in less than 24 hours. After this we'd have a car ride. What a fight. I read two books while I was on the trip. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, and Donald Millers, "A Million Miles, and a Thousand Years." One story about making your life a meaningful story, and the other a hopeless journey on a road to keep hope alive. The irony was not lost on me there either. The plane landed in Knoxville and the rain was coming down.

"Don't come home." was the general consensus by all the wives of all the husbands on the trip. The magic of Facebook and text messaging banded them together against us, and the fight turned against us for a while in the Knoxville airport. All we wanted to do was go home. All they wanted to do was keep us safe. They were fine, the houses were fine, but no one was supposed to go anywhere. The entire city had imposed a travel curfew. We just wanted to go, but home didn't want us right now. They wanted us safe.

We split up in two cars. One heading to North Nashville and one South. We would drive till we couldn't go any farther, then we'd stop for the night. It sounded like a good plan. About 10 miles in, hotels had been booked a hour and half from Nashville in Cookeville, TN. Gung ho wasn't happy. I was miserable, and the wives were generally displeased with their stubborn husbands. Our mission trip to Haiti had turned into a mission to get home- and yes- it was a fight.

We were up by 4:59a. In the morning. The drive through downtown Nashville was almost as sobering as the drive from Port Au Prince to Jacmel. It felt like I'd come full circle. I started thinking about all I had seen, and everything I had felt, and wasn't really sure how I was going to explain to my wife the things I'd experienced. I just knew that I loved her and I was glad she was safe, and my girls were protected. I had talked to Shantel a few times during my trip, but only about the highlights. I hadn't heard much from my daughters other than "I love you daddy, I miss you!" I was ready to give them small gifts I had brought back and tell them the stories of the children across the ocean that were a lot like them, yet completely different. At 7am on Monday I was dropped off at my water-logged door step. The sky was pefectly blue, with whisps of clouds floating. I half-expected to see an ark parked in my cul de sac with an old man walking off the animal kingdom two by two.

I rang the door bell to my house, only two hear a stampede of tiny feet coming my way. My daughters poked through the curtains and screamed, "DADDY!" The door opened, and I was home. My daughter Hope smiled at me and said, "Hi Daddy, do you have pictures?" I was wowed by her interest in Haiti and the orphans and my travels. "I do", I said with a smile. "Yeah, Daddy, I want to see the ones where you threw up!"

I'm Going To Disney World

2010-05-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. Anna and I are going to my favorite place in the world: Disney World. She's now 11 and I know traveling with her mom is going to quickly become "not cool", so when the opportunity to go to Disney's pin convention in August came up, I jumped at the chance to take her for a little mom/daughter trip.

We are still in the planning stages, only having booked the actual convention so far and now trying to decide on a hotel and praying we get some good airfare on flights. We've never been to a convention before, so although I've talked to several people that have been, I'm still not entirely sure what to expect. I am quickly understanding that the convention will take up most of our day so I know we won't have much extra time at any other parks except Epcot, which is where the convention is being held.

So what type of convention are we going to you ask? Well, that would be a Disney pin convention. Yes, we are Disney pin collectors. Yes, we got sucked in. Here's the story: Now, when you visit any of the Disney theme parks you will find that the majority of the employees working (called cast members) will have on lanyards with pins. For a small fortune, you can buy your own lanyard and sets of pins and then you trade with the cast members. There are all types of different sets you can collect, some of which you can't buy but can only trade for. At our house, we (meaning me, Anna, Isaac and Luke) have each picked our favorite characters and we try to trade for only those pins. Anna loves Tinkerbell, Isaac loves Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, Luke loves any Pirates and I personally collect nice Mickey pins, Chip and Dale, and Tower of Terror pins (my favorite ride). We also are looking for pins from the movie Enchanted and Up. Yes, they make pins for EVERYTHING and when I say EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I'm sure there are well over 50,000 pins that Disney has made. We personally display our pins on large decorative boards in our den and the we all enjoy planning what we will look for next. Here's some of our pins:

It's a great hobby and I'm super pumped that we get another good excuse to visit Disney again. It truly is my happy place and even though we will only be there 3 1/2 days, I'm not going to complain!

Haiti: Part 7 & 8

2010-05-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

If you this is the first time you are reading a post about my hubby's trip to Haiti you will definitely want to read these first before scrolling down:

Haiti: Part 1 & 2
Haiti: Part 3 & 4
Haiti: Part 5 & 6

I wish I could take the credit for what you are about to read, but all the credit goes to our friend Jay who went with my hubby, J, and 5 other guys to Haiti from April 26-May 2. They were there working for the Hands and Feet Project. Here's Jay (with my J behind him):
We all knew what Saturday morning meant. Larry had laid it out for us: We would start early, the supplies were here, and we were going to help pour a concrete roof. I remembered the roof. I knew what it had done to me on day one. At this point however, I would have rather done anything other than pick out rocks from the ground. We were outside by 6am. There was hammering and loud talking, and machines humming well before 5:30am. I stumbled out to the porch only to see an army of day laborers slinging mixed concrete up the roof at unimaginable speeds. I rubbed my eyes, looked left, and there was gung ho, legs propped up on the rails, watching real men work. Apparently, they were so good at what they did, that we would have got in the way. I'm not sure if this was what Larry had expected, and he had just been messing with us all along, but whatever the case, I think everyone was relieved.

There was no conveyor belt, or giant concrete truck; just a small mixer dumping concrete onto the ground, 12 guys on a cobbled together ladder than had just been extended an hour before to reach up to the roof, and a small contingency adding water, concrete, and sand into the mixer, filling up buckets and slinging it up the ladder. It was almost like watching Cirque De Soleil or even Riverdance; dancers in perfect rhythm and step as they floated concrete into the air and onto the roof. We watched like little boys staring at a car engine while our father showed us the intricacies of such a great machine.

While they labored, we stared, pointed, and took pictures of something, I'm sure could be seen every day with this work crew all across the town of Jacmel. It was amazing to us- and another day of work to them.

It was the city of Jacmel's birthday and electricity flowed through the city. Literally, elecrticity flowed; the city had power for the whole weekend to celebrate the occasion. Michelle made plans for a few of us to visit the market place festival and then the hospitals since we wouldn't be needed at Hands & Feet. Michelle had a boyfriend she wanted to introduce us to. We were all a bit surpised, and intrigued.

We walked past the no machine guns sign at the front of the hospital gate and through the rows of white tents that now housed the patients since the earthquake had destroyed portions of the hospital.
We walked through one tent where a small girl around the age of 5 or 6 was missing a section of skin from her shoulder and down her arm. With beautiful flowers hanging everywhere around the tents, I figured it used to be a courtyard, and now, it was the Hospital. Flies were hovering around her open wound, and as we paraded passed her through the tent, I don't think anyone had the courage to say a word.

Michelle's boyfriend turned out to be staying in a children's hospital. This hospital had a few rooms with dozens of metal hospital beds lined up like around the sides creating a race track for the nurses to navigate. Her man: a 2 year old boy who had lost his eyesight. She would lean in and talk to him, and he would just smile and laugh. This got all the other children in the hospital laughing, and made me smile for the young boy, whose life was being made better through Michelle, but devastated for these children.

There was no waiting room for parents to sit and family members to visit wondering whether or not their child was going to recover. For these infant patients, this was their home for the moment and the nurses were the only love they knew. As I walked out I noticed a small poster hanging on the wall. It was a locker hanging of the nickelodeon character iCarly. Depressing.

So much of the Hands & Feet would move from practical, helpful, and concrete steps to improve the place, while other things were much more thought provoking and abstract in the effect it had on the children, and mostly, on us. We were deeply affected by the people of Jacmel and the daily fight for survival.

We hopped back in a pick up truck and headed back to prepare for our trip to the beach. I had a thought as we were driving past the tap taps on the road, "How do you get 45 people to the beach in a 12 passenger van?"

8. The Beach

Since we'd been gone on our trip, all the children that were going to the beach, had already changed into swimsuits and had their towels around each neck. They were ready! Michelle told us when she first started taking them to the beach, they were terrified, because the children had never been exposed to something like that before. Reminder: Haiti is an island. The ocean is everywhere. How sad to think that a few miles away might as well be a lifetime.

27 people in total went to the beach. 9 grown adults and 18 children: in one min-van. Personal space is not an understood or practiced philosophy in Haiti, or Hands and Feet for that matter. Someone is always close by, and by close- I mean right on top of you. After a while, you realize that everyone is sweaty, and you can't escape, so you might as well deal with it. I sat in the front middle seat of the driving bench with a stick shift in front of me, and the ceiling of the van pressing down on my neck. My head was crooked over and I just prayed for small pot holes and quick travel. I later found out, we passed up two closer beaches that were only minutes away, so we could go to the "nice" beach.

As my realigned spine unfolded and we slid out the front door, we watched the others unpack much like a clown car on to the beach. We counted, double counted, and triple counted. Then we walked single file to the beach. I felt like I was in elementary school, and wished I was the line leader. The kids, were well, kids. They played in the water. One little boy brought a toy soldier with a motorcylcle and that terrorized most of the shoreline with his sound effects and endless gasoline supply. That toy must have excellent fuel efficiency. It was fun to watch him play.

We threw football, dove through the waves, and even kicked some of their football. The waves were small and the ocean was very warm. The sand was odd too. It looked like sand, and acted like sand, but it felt like mud. The kids didn't care; they screamed when the waves would hit them, and always wanted you to hold their hands. And... we did.

On the way home I sat in the first row of the back seat. Three guys sat on the bench, and four or five children sat between, around, or on us. One little girl in front of me fell asleep with her head on my leg. At first I was extremely uncomfortable with the whole thing, but then I had a thought: I wonder if this child had ever fallen asleep in someones arms. With only so many arms and laps to go around and 40 plus children, I can't imagine this opportunity happens too often. I can't think of a better feeling than being a child falling asleep in a parents arms. At home, I sometimes watch my daughters sleep, and listen to them breathe. I imagined them playing at the beach and falling asleep as we drove home with four people in a four person car seated in a child's safety seat. I think the happiness that I saw was the same, but the realities very different. I was ready to get home to my reality, and my children and wife, but didn't mind watching this little girl peacefully sleep in a wet smelly car of 27 people in a minivan after being at the beach.

We got back to the orphanage around 5pm to a few missed phone calls from my wife.

Haiti : Part 5 & 6

2010-05-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this for the first time, please take a few moments to read Part 1 & 2 HERE and Part 3 & 4 HERE before reading this next section.

I wish I could take the credit for writing this amazing journal of thoughts from my hubby's recent trip to Haiti April 26-May 2, but all the credit goes to our friend Jay. Here's Jay with my J behind him in Haiti:
Being in Haiti is not like being in another country; its like being on another planet.

The next few days blended together with familiarity. Michelle would take us on errands, and a few of the guys would get to see Jacmel a bit at a time. Larry ran the construction chess match, and we were disposable pawns. He was matched up against a mastermind opponent: the schedule. In America, you break your pick axe, you wander down to the local hardware store (or three within a tenth of a mile) and you choose from a wide variety of pick axes. You can get your standard, or one with a built in level and mp3 player. In Haiti, you break it- its gone. Larry was protective of his tools for good reason. But the schedule was the real killer. Concrete blocks showed up when they were ready, and concrete bags were even worse. To quote "O' Brother Where Art Thou?" ,Haiti is a geographical oddity- two weeks from everywhere. The best thing I can compare it to in America: A cable company. You never know when it i'll show up, but you'll be appreciative... otherwise... no ESPN for you.

All of this didn't sneak up on Larry. He was wise to the ways of Haiti, and also keeping volunteers busy. In the middle of the courtyard was a playground with swings, and a merry go round, and eight holes in the ground. The group before us, and maybe the group before that, had dug holes for the footings to complete the Hands & Feet play palace. "Why don't you guys finish out those holes and we'll pour the footings with concrete and have the play set up." Sounds easy enough right? "And, it will give you something to do while we wait for the supplies."

Why would anyone want to give up vacation to go do something like this? It's simple: Natalie, Kirby, Crystala, and 40 other perfect examples of second chance grace. Hands & Feet pours love and protection over orphan children and chips away the stone cold existence of the harsh reality they came from. I am quite certain after hearing their stories, the men on this trip would have done anything to make their life a bit easier.

That "anything" turned out to be digging holes in 90 degree weather in the blazing sun. We guess it would be a 2 hour job... only to be reminded that Haiti came from volcanic activity and this polluted paradise was nothing but rock. In Tennessee, you'd go rent some massive piece of equipment by the hour at home depot that would probably have you half way to the Earth's core by brunch. In Jacmel, you were given a small chisel, a hammer, and a pat on the back. Oh, and a pick axe that stayed together most of the time.

Two of the more experienced mission trip takers, Kevin and Gung Ho sized up the job. Larry brought out string and measurements, and levels... it was quite an undertaking. We surmised about 4 inches needed in the first hole. No problem. We hammered with force. We abused that pick axe like it had said things about our mother. Rock and dirt flew around like escapees from a police raid. Proud of our efforts, with sweat pouring off of everything single one of us after five minutes, we pulled out the measuring stick. Somehow, we now had five inches to go instead of four! Worse than a long line at the DMV, this was my version of hell. It was tedious. It was laborious. It was discouraging.

For hours we chipped away. Every once in a while someone would pull a stone the size of their fist from the ground, and those were celebratory moments; we yelled like someone had just scored a touchdown- at least I did anyway. Other times, it was small chips that had no intentions of giving up easily. What started out as a side project, became our mountain to conquer. All seven us climbed it one chisel at a time. Gung Ho looked at me, I guess wondering if I was going to give out on him again, and asked, "What do you think about this?" I thought about it a second... "Well, its kind of like being a pastor. You are given your group of people and you chisel away at them. Sometimes, amazing things happen. Other times, you keep on hammering." He liked that answer.

Haiti, and life for that matter, were a lot like that hole. There is no easy answer, there is no quick fix. Its just one chisel at a time. You do what you can with what you have. And for Hands and Feet they were redeeming one inch of dirt at a time... for a play ground, for kids who might not have ever gotten to play.

One full day of work brought about two completed holes. Six more to go.
PART 6:
I cannot speak knowledgeably about others, but my mind works in pictures. I have images stored that tell a story. The Counting Crows say, "If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts. You can never escape you can only move south down the coast." One of the reasons I write this story is to help capture those pictures, so hopefully, I won't ever forget what I saw. I hope to be haunted.

I remember pictures of the guys on the trip:

Chris had taken this trip a year before, and I don't think he ever cleaned the Haiti off of him. Casual relationships no longer satisfy, and he longs for people to interact on a truly authentic level. He invited friends he hoped to challenge, to inspire, and maybe to rewrite new chapters in a grand story designed by the ultimate author. Mission accomplished.

Early on, Matt would joke about Kevin. He'd say that Kevin would work hard on Day one, and in latter days, be found playing with the children. I honestly don't think it's Kevin's fault. He is a dad. The kids sniffed it all over him, and there was hardly a time when he wasn't out there surrounded by a crowd of orphans just wanting to wear his hat. Man did he work hard. He was the oldest in age, but youngest at heart, and wasn't afraid to take the worst jobs. That might have been the last chicken coup he cleans out, but he did it with a willing heart, no matter how weak his stomach.

Bradford made me tired. I remember the last day we were there, after having finally conquered our mountain of concrete footings chiseling one inch at a time, someone asked him to dig out a few other rocks displaced into the courtyard after a hurricane years before. I was too busy hiding around the corner to know how Bradford came about with the assignment, but I figure it was just like everything else I watched him do: with a smile. Bradford never wore down. He was always friendly; he made friends at the airport, friends in the airplane, friends with the Haitian day-laborers, and even tried his hand at a friendly game of soccer against one of the best players in Haiti. Ever since I got back to Nashville, I keep running into people who know Bradford, and I have to say, I'm not surprised.

Matt (Gung Ho) was I'm pretty sure, assigned to make sure the preacher made it out alive. We paired up working, because he knew what he was doing out there, and well, I didn't. I came home with ant bites and scrapes, and he looked like he'd been at a day spa. It was disgusting. I think he also liked to look at me, so he'd feel better about himself. I can't prove it, but I believe it. At one point, I saw Matt checking his emails, and then he told me he had like 18,000 emails in his inbox. Much like he thought I was joking about nausea, I thought he was exaggerating. Not so. As hard as he worked at Hands and Feet, he was also juggling work from a few thousand miles away. A natural leader, with a big heart.

I have this constant image in my head of Jonathan. I don't know if it was really this way or not, but I see it clearly. In both arms, a child. Also, probably one on his back, and one pulling on one of his legs. It wasn't out of obligation or guilt, but I think he was just comfortable that way. With twin boys that were his spitting image, and a precious young lady who looks like her momma, I also found out he and his wife felt a calling to adopt. Now a family of five kids, I half way expected the x ray machines at Port Au Prince airport to reveal a stow-away in his luggage. I can't think of a clearer picture of what God does for us in being called His children. Galatians talks about how we who trust in Christ are heirs, and called by his name. Its not just a last name, its an eternal inheritance. Jonathan and his lovely wife are living, breathing, walking examples of how God loves us by adoption.

One of my favorite parts of the trip: Tyler. One night while up on the roof, staring at the stars, and processing all that we had seen, Tyler said, his friends were asking him why he went to Haiti. He wasn't quite sure what to tell them. I loved his honesty. The funny thing was, I wasn't sure why I had come either. One of my pastor friends joked with me, " Jay, I can think of many many things that Haiti could use to help. You are not one of them." Tyler prayed for me and I got to pray with him. He had willingly unplugged from the cellular world, and I think he loved every second of that. I think everyone was stretched by the experience in Haiti, and I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Tyler tells his story.

It only took a few days, but I can gladly say, I'd go anywhere with those guys again. Well. most of them anyway.

It was Saturday morning, and I was ready to come home.

Haiti : Part 3 & 4

2010-05-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

If you are haven't read the first post about my husband's recent trip to Haiti, you must read THIS first before reading this post.

I wish I could take the credit for the amazing post you are about to read, but all the credit goes to our friend Jay would traveled with my husband J to Haiti April 26-May 2. Here's Jay:
We rode down a long driveway with exotic trees, and piled stone leading us up to a security wall with a large steel gate. It felt like entering another world we had yet to see in Haiti. It was gorgeous. The mountain we had climbed was staring back at us smiling, and beneath it, and giant courtyard, with large white concrete buildings making up the Hands and Feet Compound. We tumbled out of the van only to be greeted by a mass of cheering children hugging us and checking our pockets for candy. They had done this before.

Michelle Mease led the orphanage. She gave us the tour and told us the story. 45 children called Hands & Feet home and everyone one had a story. 5 different buildings house children. It was a strange feeling. I expected to come to an orphanage and feel badly for the children. I've been to orphanages before in other countries, but this was different. Compared to what I had already seen in my half-day in Haiti, I knew these children were treated like kings and queens. They were affectionate and sweet and well-adjusted. They did not scream for attention, instead they gave hugs and kisses like that was what children freely did and were supposed to do. And it is.

The men I went with were from all different backgrounds all connecting back to Chris. It was clear that several of them were used to efficiency, and getting the project done, and well... actual work. They were ready to get to it. Our job was to do whatever Hands & Feet needed. Chris told us last year he painted a little and put together a swing set, but mostly they played with the kids. I noticed some pretty significant construction going on with about 8 workers getting after it. Michelle fixed us lunch, roasted chicken. Pretty sure the chicken was alive a few hours before. I woozily wandered out to see what the other guys were about to get into, still feeling the van ride motion sickness, and now a type of work I was clearly not used to.

I grabbed the shiny new work gloves I brought, and gingerly climbed the homemade extension ladder to the second story where concrete blocks were being passed up and then again up another step ladder that should have been retired. All the other guys were already in place, so I was processed to the roof, while the Haitian co-workers laughed at me for being so pale, and obviously out of my element. The heat was pounding down on me. It felt like I was closer to the sun that any other time in my life. The next thing I know... 30 minutes pass of an assembly line of tossing concrete blocks (20lbs) and placing them on the roof. The speed was incredible. They looked like they were passing pillows, and I was the only white guy in site. I figured the other guys were down on the second floor admiring my passion and work-drive, or they were much smarter and slower, and probably drinking water.

Minute 25 I realized that throwing up was inevitable. Minute 28 I thought I was going to pass out. Minute 29 I imagined I was going to stop sweating and die of dehydration. Minute 30 I stepped out of the line and bent over to catch my breath. They all laughed at me. Apparently it had been a game to see how fast they could wear me out. I looked over at Larry and he smiled, and said, I'll tell you later. Larry by the way, wasn't doing anything but watching. I hated Larry at that moment.

I struggled down the ladder after barely half of one hour. I fought myself from letting go of the ladder all together on the long one- just so I might never have to work again. I somehow found myself at the water jug of "American-safe" water to drink and sat down on the front porch in a rocking chair. All the other guys came down too and grabbed some water, and one gung ho alpha male (out of the many that were on the trip) came over and said, "fun, huh?" I wiped my brow and said, "I'm just trying not to throw up." They all laughed. They thought I was funny. I wasn't being funny.

Back to work. I couldn't hardly see straight. My knees were starting to shake. Sweat was rolling off of me and everyone else. Concrete block after block after block. I finally pulled away for another break. It was probably 2:30 by this time, not knowing that 3:00 would be stopping time for the real workers, since they had been at since 6am, because Larry was a mute who enjoyed seeing white preachers suffer.

I wanted to lay down and die. Gung Ho came back over to me, and said, "Are you going to say anything to us." I said, "No really, I'm trying not to throw up." They laughed again. I walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and gave up the fight. I have never expelled that much fluid in my life. I felt like a fire hydrant being turned on for kids to play in on the street.

I wiped my mouth, changed my shirt, and went back at it. That was almost 3pm of my my first day of a mission trip that would be 5 full days in Haiti. Surely, it would get better from here, right?

I was wrong about Larry.

I had survived the night and actually felt much better. For all basic purposes, I might as well have been on another planet. This planet did not have cell phone coverage, air conditioning during the day, nor warm water. The only great thing about it- I wasn't alone. All seven of us were going through a bit of withdrawal, and clearly none of us were in our element. I think Larry and Michelle were well aware of this and had a few things that for whatever reason made the world better. Larry let me in on his stash of Pepsi. They were giant glass bottles that were covered in silt seated in a wooden box that had clearly never seen a super market in the last few decades. Folks would drink em, they load everything back up, and swamp them out with a redemption discount. I'm not sure if it was for the environment or because Larry loved glass bottles. Either way- Larry totally redeemed himself.

Schedule was everything. The students went to school, came back to their home with 40+ siblings, played, did chores, and all ate supper together. By 8pm the crew at Hands & Feet had everyone in there rooms. We would all sit on the porch, rock in chairs, and listen to Michelle and Larry. From March to September they hosted groups like us to come and help with the ministry and get a taste of Haiti. The orphanage was sweet, and Haiti was gritty. At one point, I asked Michelle if she grew tired of answering the same questions ( I already knew what Larry thought about it!). You could tell she didn't mind and was just happy to communicate in English with adults. Larry was two different people. There was Larry the crew leader, protector of equipment, and keeper of order, and then there was Larry the father figure to his children. It was amazing to see the visible love that Larry and Michelle had for these orphans.

Michelle's every thought revolved around her different kids. She loved to talk about their progress, intelligence, and where she thought they would end up working in life. Some doctors, some mechanics, and even a pastor or two.

They loved to tell the redemption stories. Michelle started with one about Larry and Larry would interject if he felt the need. A baby was left in the care of Michelle and they were looking for placement of her. Natalie had no where to go, and a children's facility fell through for taking care of her. Larry agreed to care for her for 30 days. His words, "I can do anything for 30 days." After a few days in, Larry went to work, and caregivers came in to help with Natalie since she appeared to have some disabilities. They called him after he'd been gone most of the day, and said Natalie had been screaming all day. Larry came home, and when he walked in, she immediately stopped crying. 30 days turned into an adoption. Natalie has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheel chair. She requires constant attention, but she lights up when Larry walks in. Redemption.

Kirby is two years old and lightning fast. Michelle said to let her know if we saw a little boy running around without his shoes and possibly without his pants. "He can't hear, so don't yell for him... just let me know." We were told that Kirby should not be alive. His condition is microcephaly. His head is smaller than it should be and it almost always- the child never survives. Kirby's only apparent issue is a lack of hearing. Michelle plans on teaching all 40 children sign language and has already picked out a local boy to help Kirby learn how to communicate. Bigger than that, It is possible that with the right doctors, and medical care, some of Kirby's hearing might be restored. I have a feeling that Kirby's story of redemption is far from over

Each child had their story. Michelle and Larry seemed to know them all. This wasn't a situation where someone answered an add for a job. This was not a 40 hour a week- something to do- until the next thing comes open. This was a calling, and it was clear that Michelle & Larry were called. They told a story of a baby being brought to them. The parents came to them, "We had five children and four have died of starvation. We'd like one to survive." and they left the baby there. Another's mother had died of Aids, and the baby tested positive for HIV. We visited this beautiful baby in the children's hospital ( a room with 30 metal cribs, 30 children, and two ceiling fans). Michelle's prayer was for the mom's blood to carry the HIV and in a few months, when they tested again, the little baby would not have the life ending virus so he could come and live at Hands & Feet. I want that too.

Crystala topped them all. Her mother was 15 and when she knew she was going to deliver, instead of going to a hospital, or telling someone else, she went into a public restroom (4 toilet stalls lined up like out houses) and delivered a baby girl. After watching life itself come from within her, the mother threw Crystala away. She dropped her down the toilet and walked out.

A young boy saw the girl come out with blood all over her, and knew she had been pregnant. He ran over to the bathroom and could hear the cry of a baby. He called the police. The UN police arrived, and dug down over 28 feet through filth, disease, and human waste hoping to find a baby. Michelle showed me the video. Crystala survived two births in one day. She escaped from a mother who didn't want her, and she was saved by concerned boy, UN workers, and a loving God who must certainly have big plans for her life. Redemption.

I held the three year old Crystala in my lap. When she looked at you, you wanted to cheer for her. I was watching a living, breathing, and laughing miracle.

Lying in my bunk that night, thankful for the fan that circulated cool night air, I couldn't help but think about how God is in the redemption business. I saw his love on display through Michelle and through Larry. They are more than employees of Hands & Feet. They are protectors of the weak. They are advocates of the defenseless. They are in the redemption business, and business is booming.

Haiti: Part 1 & 2

2010-05-08T19:02:00.001-07:00

I wish I could take the credit for writing the following posts because I think they are amazing, but all the credit goes to our friend Jay who joined Jonathan on his recent trip to Haiti April 26-May 2, 2010. Here's Jay in Haiti with my J behind him:

PART ONE:

Flew to Miami with six other men. None of them from my church, and I only really knew one of them well. Chris had invited us all to go on this trip. I originally told him no. I felt like I had too much going on at my church. He didn't flinch, "Hey man, you are always going to be too busy. You should go with me on this trip."

I had kind of found myself in this place where I felt like the universe was being set in motion, its every rotation, dependent on my existence. I was Desmond, and if the button didn't get pushed....

We all are "too busy" It's all relative to what we think is "busy". The fact is, we are all replaceable, and only make time for the things we truly care about. I preach about taking the good news about Jesus around the world and showing God's love to others almost every week, but my calendar only reflects a self-important administrator who makes sure there are enough chairs on Sunday. I talked to Shantel, prayed about it, and called him back. I was in. Turns out 5 of the 7 guys who went told him no too. Chris had his work cut out for him.

Spent the night in a pink Embassy Suites only to wake up at 4:30AM to catch the flight to Haiti. I don't have a problem with planes. My issue comes into play with motion sickness on roller coasters and car rides. If I'm not upfront, its over. We landed at what was left of the Port Au Prince airport. chaos. Entrance into the country and customs was basically a mean lady with a stamp and ball point pen. I imagined there to be only 8 ball point pens in all of Haiti after the Earthquake. I smiled at her, she smiled back, and I was in. I still got it.

We were told you would land, and they would throw your luggage into a pile, and you'd have to scrap for it. Apparently that was all yesterdays news because a conveyor belt was now handling the action. It was relatively tame inside the baggage claim. Outside was a whole nother story. It looked like the Haitian equivalent to a Justin Bieber stampede at a mall performance. We waited inside the fence for our driver to show up. That felt like a long wait.

Someone showed with a scrap of cardboard that wrote "Christoph" with the "er" trailing off like a bad junior high election poster where the mom refused to help the kid, and the kid lost because he couldn't space his name properly on a piece of paper and the "er" was in tiny print falling off the self promotional cliff. We followed him.

The next 500 ft. to the car felt like 50,000. I didn't look anyone in the eye, and I felt like Jason Bourne being chased by baggage hitmen wanted to "tip" me to death. We ended up next to this mini-van with 6 grown men essentially competing for the same tip. AWKWARD. Somehow this was handled and OTIS our driver and surprisingly, there was a small American with us, who barely said a word. Otis and Larry were our protection.

Larry never formally introduced himself, but he helped to lead the Hands and Feet Orphanage in Jacmel where we were heading. Having no clue what this trip was going to be like, only preparing for the worst, I had taken anti-nausea medicine for the van drive. 65 miles to Jacmel, and it took over 3 1/2 hours.

At first we were asking Larry questions. "Why was the airport like that?" "How long will this trip take?" "Is this normal?" Larry was clearly uninterested in answering any questions, and promptly dosed off into a nap, which left us to take in the sights for ourselves. Now, most of you know me, I am what you would call an extrovert. I enjoy conversation, an experiential journey as we openly communicate thoughts, and possible humorous things we might see while driving. For almost 4 hours, no one spoke one word. Larry knew what we would see could not be explained.
I sat in the front seat, doing my best to avoid losing my lunch in front of grown men I barely knew. We drove past the actual airport that had been damaged from the earthquake, and I could tell that it had once been a fairly nice place. Rubble was everywhere. The road was barely recognizable except for the three lanes of traffic on the two lane road. Pick up trucks with a covering over the back and two benches to sit on either side would be filled with 20-40 Haitians at a time piled in the popular taxi transportation. They would "tap tap" on the side, and the driver would pull over. The Tap Taps were everywhere. The other thing that was everywhere: people. It was like they were walking around but had no place to go. It really felt like aimless wandering, with a mixture of motor bikes zipping in and out of the three laned- two lane roads. Everyone honked their horns.

There appeared to be one road from city to city and anyone with a vehicle was on it. Inches off the road, tent after tent was lined up for living. It felt like no one was farther than 1 foot from the road. Everything was ruined. I wish I knew what Port Au Prince looked like before, I was told Haiti is the 4th most contaminated place on Earth, and the first three are due to nuclear fall out. Contaminated makes it sound so distant. This was unimaginable. We drove past flowing rivers of trash. Imagine a man-made lake-bed to help irrigate the city so no water would over-take it. Now, replace the gushing water with sewage. People were wading through it trying to scoop out debris. It was liking watching a fireman take a squirt pistol to blazing inferno. Trash was everywhere. Debris, rubble, garbage, and children all floated around and played together. Children were chasing each other inches away from the highway. Some had clothes on... no one had real actual shoes. But hey, I'm here to tell you that Crocs have made a global impact!

The paved road became the equivalent to a bmx rally track. The potholes were almost vehicle sized, perfect for a dirt bike to catch some air. We bounced around in the minivan like someone giant had picked us up and was shaking us violently to see how we'd react. More rubble. More devastation. Hopelessness loomed in the air like a fog that never ended.

I never saw any fast food restaurants. I thought McDonald's were everywhere. Not in Haiti. There was nothing in Haiti. Gas Stations were miles and miles apart, and actual offices and buildings didn't seem to exist anymore. The only thing I could make out were car dealerships. That was odd too. They had no inventory visible. Everything was concrete walls and fences, the ones that survived the earthquake. The "Walmart" in the major city of Port Au Prince was nothing more than an open market with hundreds of items piled on top of each other in the open sky for people to rummage through. I saw this massive pile- the size of a one car garage- of t-shirts. Shoes were the same way. They looked mildew stained and ratty. I asked Larry if that was donations given from earthquake relief. He said they were for sale. That was the open market. We drove on.

Just past the rubble, debris, urine and garbage stained streets, just beyond the lean-tos, tents, and fallen huts, you could barely make out the beach. From the van, it looked like a picture you'd see in someones beach house. Palm trees and little boats, and perfectly blue ocean. paradise right?

The second part of the trip was up a mountain. The one road in the country followed the curves of a mountain with blind spots at every turn. All you could hear were little moped and motor bike honks, and I imagined the whole thing to be a very ridiculous video game, only with no extra lives. I dozed off at one point, only to wake up to a soldier with an AK-47 staring at me through the windshield. He had a funny blue construction hat. I rubbed my eyes to see the UN sticker, and the earth mover behind him. The roads were falling apart and earthquake landslides had made the barely two lane road... less than one lane for the motorists to honk at each other on. 20, 30 minutes, finally the machine gun toting humanitarian let us pass. 5 miles, another stop with an earth mover chipping away at one side of a mountain only to toss it to the other side. By this time, 15 motor bikes had sped past us, only to screech to a halt with a UN soldier almost clotheslining one of them. Finally we were allowed to pass.

The downhill turn of the mountain was treacherous also. Otis didn't want to drive too fast, as little cities would pop up and people would wander out in front of you like a stray dog hoping to be put out of its misery. So, we'd drive fast, we'd drive slow, and Otis braked so much, I wondered if we would have to put our feet through the floor like a flinstone mobile. The anti-nausea medicine started to wear off and my prayer life took an uptick. "God, please don't let me throw up in Haiti in front of grown men I don't know." That was the last half-hour. I prayed so much so, that I'm not even sure what the orphanage looked like once we pulled in.

Goodbye Nashville, Hello Haiti

2010-04-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

The above pic is our friend, Tyler (far left), my hubby J (center), and our friend, Chris (far right). These three guys plus 4 other men left for Haiti Monday. Haiti had been on J's heart long before the earthquake, so when Chris decided to go back (he volunteered there last year pre-earthquake)J jumped at the chance to go with him. They are there with Hands and Feet project working at an orphanage. Will you pray for this group of men this week? They return home May 2.

Here's another shot of Chris with his family, Kim, McKinley and Jack. Chris organized the trip and I loved this shot of his family. They are some of our dearest friends and we love them to death.

Papa Eddie w/ The Kids

2010-04-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, I had to go for my follow-up appointment to get my stitches removed. My mom and dad, Juju and Papa Eddie, volunteered to come to the house and watch the babies while I was gone. Mom snapped these pics and I just smiled ear to ear when she emailed them to me. I am very blessed to have such an amazing family that loves my kiddos and wants to hang out with them. Here's Papa Eddie and Joshua:

Here's Papa Eddie and Mary Elizabeth. He had obviously told her a pretty funny secret:

Of course, like most women, JuJu isn't in any of these pics because she was taking the picture! THANKS JuJu for snapping these pics.

Hard to believe how much the babies have grown, huh? I am starting to get asked if they are twins more and more often as they are relatively the same size now.

Melanoma

2010-04-22T16:34:00.001-07:00

So, I had a *little* scare a few weeks ago and I thought I would share my experiences with you.

It all started April 1. My youngest twin, Luke, had been referred to a plastic surgeon/dermatologist for a consult on a birthmark that had been on his belly since birth. Over the years, it has grown quite a bit, changed texture, changed color, etc. We had seen several derms over the years, but since our insurance had changed, it was time to find a new doctor. Our pediatrician referred us to this new doctor, Dr. C, to let her have a look. She took one look and immediately decided it needed to come off, so he had surgery earlier this year. Luckily, the pathology on the birthmark was clear. I was so impressed with her, I decided to check her out for myself. This all leads me to the office visit I had with her on April 1.

As she looked over a few spots that had been removed previously (see that post HERE), she mentioned that I shouldn't need a full body scan because I had been to my last doctor within the last 6 months. I looked at her puzzled and I think she immediately realized, I had NEVER had a full body scan. "You've never had a doctor look over your body for suspicious moles?" she asked. Nope. Never thought to ask for one, and the previous derms have never asked to do one, so I really had never even considered that this might be something of importance. Never mind that I have had 3 spots removed over the last 3 years.

She immediately told me to disrobe and for all you ladies out there, well...let's just say I wasn't "prepared" to get naked. But I did. And she found 5 spots that "she really didn't like the looks of" She went on to discuss melanoma, how she wanted them off ASAP and proceeded to book me on April 14 to have them cut off. I left the appointment feeling uneasy. How had I not realized the spots didn't look "normal"....why had I never thought about having a doctor examine the rest of my body? I called J and sobbed to him, but then quickly composed myself as I realized that God was just as much in control at that moment as he was before she identified those 5 spots. Oh, and for those of you that were wondering: the reason they were "weird" is that they aren't raised like a "normal" mole, the color is dark and inconsistant throughout, and they are not perfectly round...in fact, they appeared like a blot of ink.

J and I drove in silence to the office on the 14th. I think we were both a little more nervous than we let on, especially because I knew the doctor was not normally in the office that day, but she had come in specifically to remove these spots. When I arrived, the nurse let us know that our insurance would only cover 3 spots to be removed at one time and Dr. C had decided that the two on my upper back and one on my belly were the most important to remove. The nurse applied the numbing cream and we waited for Dr. C to arrive (she had been in surgery all morning).

The procedures weren't that bad. I'm sure the numbing cream helped. J sat on the chair across the room and admitted later that he tried not to look as she put needles in me to numb the spots. He said he glanced my way long enough to see a bloody stitch coming up and decided that was all he needed to see. I left nice and numb with a promise from the doctor that I would get a call with the results as soon as she got them. I came home and surfed the net. Bad idea. Those spots DID look like the spots they showed on melanoma sites. I stopped surfing the net. I did talk to two friends on the phone who are both melanoma survivors. Both were AMAZING and gave me all the info I needed to not feel so scared of a diagnosis.

Finally, on Tuesday, I got the call from the doctor. No Melanoma. I felt like I let out enough air to fill my lungs for an eternity. I don't think I realized until that moment how much I had subconciously worried. The bad news? They are dysplastic which means that aren't normal. The worse news? On one of the spots, they didn't get "clear margins" which means they didn't get it all and in her opinion, it would have turned into melanoma, so I have to go back May 14th to get more of that area removed. She is also going to cut out the other two spots that day. She feels confident that they will come back the same as these last three, but it's important to go ahead and get them off before they do get funky.

I guess the reason I am typing this is that I want people reading this to be more proactive than I was. If you have a spot that looks odd, go to a doctor and get it checked out. If you need one in Nashville, shoot me a message...I think Dr. C is great and would be happy to pass on her number. A big thank you to those of you that knew about this and were praying for us...we felt it and that is the only reason that I was so calm in this whole process!

Yellow Teeth, Lung Butter, Etc.

2010-02-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

A few more random thoughts from me....

I didn't realize until I really looked at the pic above how yellow Isaac's teeth look. I showed him the picture and I think he finally realized why I stay on them about brushing their teeth. We go to the dentist every 6 months and it's a miracle, but so far, none of the kids have had a cavity. One of my regrets is not taking better care of my teeth growing up, so I hope this was all the wake up call he needed. I promise his teeth are not normally that yellow.

My migraines have been almost non-existant since I started with the chiropractor a few weeks ago. Yes, I was skeptic, but it's been amazing how a few adjustments in my neck have stopped the migraines dead in their tracks. Right now I am going once a week, but I just love the doctor and I feel fabulous in the headache department. I do think I am trying really hard to get another sinus infection which seems to come about every 6 months. As Angie V. calls it, I've been coughing up some lung butter so I'm sure I'll be good and sick by this time next week.

I've had a lot of mixed emotions the last few days about how I should stop putting my thoughts out there so openly. Not necessarily on this blog, but I've had a few friends ask things along the line of "what would Brea do" and I find that my answers tend to be completely opposite what they were thinking and I end up feeling like I am putting my gigantic foot in my mouth. I know they wouldn't ask if they didn't want my opinion, but I do end up feeling like a butt when my advice isn't in line with what they were thinking. At the end of the day, I want to know I was being real, but on the flip side I certainly don't want to hurt others with my thoughts or feelings.

One of the other things I have been thinking and praying a lot about: do I have a different view on adoption simply because we were fertile? Would I feel differently about the whole process if J and I had never been able to conceive children? In reality, I honestly don't know what infertility feels like. I welcome feedback on this (heck, I welcome feedback on anything I talk about!) I do remember J and I talking when we first started the process before Mary Elizabeth and we felt very convicted about the type of child we would like to adopt. We certainly didn't want to take a healthy, white infant away from another couple who couldn't conceive so we chose to be more open when it came to the child that we would adopt. Sure enough, we were the only couple open to M.E.'s specific situation and I think somewhere deep down, it made me feel good to know that it wasn't an us vs. them type situation.

So that's what is rolling around in my head in the last few days. If you have an extra minute, please say a prayer for a friend of mine, H. She and her husband are in the midst of a domestic adoption where the birthmother is in limbo about whether or not to sign TPR. The baby is now a week old and this situation is very hard on everyone involved. I'm sure they would be so thankful for your prayers!

Adoption = Hard

2010-02-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

I was a little surprised to log in today and realize this was my 500th post. The whole reason I started this blog was to "loosely" follow Mary Elizabeth's adoption. Here I am, almost 3 years later, still talking about adoption and now we have gone from 3 to 5 kids.

Adoption has been a bitter pill for me to swallow recently. Joshua's mom came to visit and although it was wonderful and we made amazing memories, it brought back a lot of feelings I had when she originally placed him with us. I kept thinking, "in a perfect world, she would be raising her son" but wow, this world is so far from perfect. I'm working on a post about her visit that I'll be sharing soon.

I also have several friends who are in the process of adopting, both internationally and domestically. I find it difficult to bite my tongue when they say something that really isn't ethical, etc. I have to remind myself constantly that I was once in that place where I thought every child internationally available for adoption was an orphan, where I assumed adoption was ALWAYS the best option, where I thought that the adoptive parent was a saint for opening their home, that every black child in a white family was from Africa. Now I know that adoption is one of the hardest things I have ever been through and yet one of the most rewarding.

I have to remind myself that it's easy to feel this way, I have two more amazing kids.....I'm no longer in the horrible wait for a referral. It's easy to tell someone now that the agony of the wait will disappear once they have placement. I remember what I felt like when people would say "your baby will come, just trust in God" I wanted to smack them and yet, I find, that I am now giving the same advice with a little more detail.

I guess I've just come to realize that my children are not my own. I am blessed that God chose me to raise them. I have never done anything to earn them and God certainly doesn't want me out there patting myself on the back that I opened my home when he is the one who wanted me to be open. It's difficult to know that although I know Joshua's mom doesn't regret her decision, I still cry sometimes because I wish her circumstances were different. Yes, that would mean he would not be here with me, but it also means he wouldn't have to face the loss of his biological family at some point in his life.

I worry about the hard questions he and Mary are going to get one day. My Anna is in middle school, I KNOW the mean things kids say. Just the other day, she came home in tears because a boy had told her she looked like a second grader. Now, mind you, she is a peanut and probably is the size of a second grader, but to a tween in middle school those words were devastating. I mainly worry about the hard questions they will ask ME one day. I just have to cling to this:

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Some New Pics

2010-02-06T13:17:00.001-08:00

This is J.T's new face when he sees the red light on the camera before the flash. I will say "cheese" and this is the face you get for EVERY picture: New Years Day 2010. Anna wasn't home so she isn't in this pic:
Me, Mary, and Joshua vegging on the couch:

I'm Back, sort of...

2010-02-06T06:56:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe when I come to this page that it's been over 2 months since I put my thoughts down on "paper" I guess I could say I've been too busy, sale madness is starting. Or, I could possibly blame it on migraines. Yep, that sounds good. In reality, I find that sometimes the thoughts that roll around in my head sound better in my head than putting them out for the whole world to read. I certainly don't want to tick someone off with my "views" on things like parenting, adoption, etc. and yet when I do read someone else's blog that has completely different views from me, it has made me want to come back on here and start "talking"

I think it would take a book to tell you everything that has happened since my last post. Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went. Joshua's birthmom came to visit for several days at Christmas and we had a wonderful time. We celebrated New Year's Eve with some friends and spent New Years Day with family. January seemed to fly by and I finally broke down and went to the chiropractor for my migraines/back. So far, it has been a total success and today I am at one week with no migraine. M.E. and J.T. started mothers day out on Thursday. In 11 years of being a mom, I've never had a child in MDO so this was exciting and scary all at the same time. I was surprised at how much I got done in a 5 hour period and even more thrilled when J.T., my child that doesn't nap, took a 2 1/2 hour nap upon arriving home on Thursday. I kept checking him to make sure he was breathing simply because I'm not sure I've ever seen the boy sleep for over 30 minutes except for at night.

Looking forward, the sale is one month away (well, drop off at least) and I am working hard at scheduling workers and getting all the other "little" things done that help make the sale a success. I'm actually really looking forward to it this year. I've been in a cleaning out mode and have more to get rid of than ever before so I'm sure I'm keeping the VIP tagger quite busy. It feels good to purge out the old. I've taken several bags of adult clothing and household goods to the Goodlettsville Help Center to donate. I love it when I haul it up to the door and come back to a clean trunk in my car.

My youngest twin, Luke, had to have some surgery this week. He was born with a birthmark on his belly. That sweet birthmark helped us tell our children apart for a while, but it has continued to grow and change texture so it was time for it come off. The surgeon ended up taking off another pre-cancerous birthmark right below the original so Lukey has been feeling pretty crappy this week. We decided post surgery that they MUST have given him speed as he was riled up like I have never seen. He ate post surgery like he had the munchies: downing a grilled cheese, a bag of chips, two icees and a sprite in a little over an hour. He is on restricted activity which we have found means NOTHING to an 8 year old boy, so he constantly asks to do things which would be considered limited. He is doing great though and the meals from family and friends have been so appreciated as I have literally had time to do nothing while taking care of wild man Luke.

A friend that I have never met in real life is adopting a baby this week. She sends out wonderful detailed messages about their journey so far: bonding with the birthmother, their time at the hospital and today is the hard part, birthmom is being dismissed from the hospital. Reading her messages brings back SO many memories of our experience with Joshua. Although I look back on our experience and wouldn't change anything, it doesn't make me hurt any less over the loss that his mom felt that day and how I felt like I thief.

I have also noticed in the last few weeks that complete strangers come up to me and ask if M.E. and J.T. are from Haiti. I guess you don't realize how much the media has hit home with people about the orphan crisis until you are approached in this way. Honestly, I love to see their reactions when I say "nope, Memphis and Houston" Most tend to get this look on their face as if they are waiting for me to say "just kidding" and when they realize I am serious, they begin to ask questions and make comments how they didn't realize there are children in the U.S. that need homes.

So that's the mini-update on me. I'm going to try to do a bit better about updating and I need to get some new pictures on here of the kids. They are growing so fast and getting so big. J.T. is crawling, has a tooth and is pulling up on everything. I'm quickly realizing my baby days are coming to an end.

Thankfulness

2009-11-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

Here I sit knowing I still have several days of Disney overviews hanging over my head to write. Honestly, they take a lot of work because my OCD and ADD mix together too strongly when I am writing these trip reports. The ADD side of me wants to start writing about one day and then jump to another. The OCD side wants to make sure that every detail in every post is perfect. This whole mess takes about a week to make a clear blog post that everyone else in the blogging world could do in about 2 minutes. J tells me I'm just ODD (OCD and ADD put together). I just reply with "well, it always gets done and when it's done, it's perfect!" He gets a big kick out of my antics I'm sure.

Since I am adding lazyness into the OCD and ADD, I really didn't feel like working on another Disney post so I thought, "hmm, what should I blog post about" and like the other millions of bloggers, I immediately thought "Thankfulness"

So, if your blog surfing tonight, I'm sorry in advance that mine will be yet another "what I'm Thankful for this year" blog. Of course, mine are never really cheesy and you might find that you actually enjoy reading about Brea's thankfulness. So, my faithful readers of this blog, I give you Brea's Top 10 Things She's Been Thankful For in 2009.

Brea's Top 10 Things She's Been Thankful For in 2009
1. People that invented sleeping pills (like prescription strength-those silly over the counter things don't work for me): Although I have done many unfortunate things after taking the sleeping pill (including cutting off all my fingernails, calling my mother in which I remember none of the conversation, etc.)I would like to say I have slept like a baby the last two weeks. Whilst during that sleep, I have also had some pretty amazing dreams that have given me some good laughs this week. So the number one spot goes to the makers of those pills, because without them, I was pretty sure I was headed to the loony bin by my lack of sleep.

2. Encores and More North Children's Consingment Sale: Although there are many times when I want to run screaming from that place, I finally realized this year that God truly did call me into this line of business and not because he wanted to bless me financially, he wanted me to SEE HIM bless others through something that he created. The amount of cards and notes I received from families thanking us for providing a place to not only create income by selling old goods, but also by being able to purchase new stuff at great prices was simply overwhelming. I am thankful for each and every person that walks through our doors whether a consignor, worker, shopper, cleaner, cook, etc. Any person that contributes anything to the sale, please know we couldn't do it without you and Brea is thankful for you!

3. My husband's new job at Smith Travel Research. Probably doesn't seem like something that should rank on the top 10, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE that my husband now works 15 minutes away and doesn't have to fight that God awful traffic going back and forth to Brentwood anymore. We had taken for granted the simple things like him being able to come home and have lunch with the kids. How cool is that? So thank you to STR for being a stable, debt free company that takes great care of your employees and their families. Without you, we would have two less hours of daddy at home a day.

4. My mom and dad taking us to Disney last month. They probably didn't know how badly our family needed a break and for them to pay for the trip really was like a breath of fresh air. The family time spent together was fabulous. Being de-stressed enough to really get to watch the excitement in my kids faces-that's what vacation is all about. It was a wonderful time and we truly needed some time away.

5. V and T: Josh and Mary Elizabeth's moms. Right now, I have no clue where either of them are. I hope they are doing well. I am so thankful for them because they continue to challenge me to be a better mother (and I bet they don't even know that). They gave us children that I feel based on what I know, that they themselves could have parented quite wonderfully. What an honor to know that someone has picked me to raise her child. I hope I make them both proud. I hope they know how much I love them both and I do....I love my children and I love their other moms. My prayer is that someday we are sitting around a big table all loving on one another. I believe God could do that.

6. Saint Barbara. For those of you that don't know, Saint Barbara is held in the same high esteem as Saint Cindy (our house cleaner) My mother in law literally is a saint. When she told me one time that she felt she was put on this earth to be a grandmother, well, let's just say I believe her. She LOVES her grandchildren and is helpful to me. Constantly supporting me and my favorite is when she calls out of the blue and says "so, when can I have them" I never feel like I am wearing her out with requests for childcare because I know we have such a great relationship that she would just say, "can't do it then" and it's no big deal. The kids love going to visit and I literally never worry when they are in her care. She was definitely put on this earth to be a Saintly Grandmother.

7. Anna. She's a very bright girl who is radiating hormones from her body. She changes outfits 15 times a day trying to figure out which bra doesn't show, if her hair looks best with a bow, wanting to use the phone and singing to every song that plays on the radio while J and I look at each other and say "what is this song?" Frightening, I know. She's also a wonderful Christian young woman who has seemingly surrounded herself with good Christian young women. My prayers for years is that Anna would be surrounded with Godly friends that she can go to church and school with. ANSWERED PRAYER! I'm excited about watching her friends grow up now because I know chances are they are going to be sticking around more and more ofteh. Anna's a great gift to us, always amazing us with her beauty inside and out.

8. Craigslist. No, I'm not joking. I am thankful for Craigslist. I no longer get THE eye roll from J when I come home from weekend yard sales with the truck loaded full because he knows that most of it is going on craigslist and there's a pretty good bet that I'll make money on the stuff. I am even more thankful that Craigslist charges me nothing (right now) to sell or buy stuff. When you've bought two cars, most of your furniture, home decor, etc. off craigslists, who couldn't be thankful!

9. Jonathan. He's a rockstar. Seriously, what guy do you know that comes home from work and actually wants to play with his FIVE kids. He does all the laundry in this house and he is even a pretty dang good cook. He is so freakishly smart computer wise and you would be blown away if I listed all the work he has done for FREE for non profit organizations. It was eye opening to me to be at a recent conference where the speaker got choked up when presenting Jonathan because of all the work he had done for them for FREE and how much it had impacted the non profit. On top of that, he does his normal 8-5 job, works extra hours for his old boss, AND maintains everything on Encores and More North website including the fact that he built the tagging system. His strength amazes me and I love him more than the day I married him.

10. The little stuff. Like having warm socks fresh out of the dryer when my feet are cold. That they make meds for migraine headaches that make them go away (sometimes). I am so thankful for my wonderful, small house and the fact that our family has never felt more at home and together than we have living in this house. For our yard, with all the trees and things to do. I spent hours each day as a kid exploring and I love seeing my kids do the same. Being able to go to a doctor the same day I start having symptoms and getting treatment that day. Clipping coupons and using them and then using the money I saved to support 6 kids monthly in Ethiopia (no, we aren't adopting them) I was thankful yesterday when I sold my Bumbo off craigslist and when the lady came to pick it up, I got misty. I got misty because it's the last Bumbo we'll have in this house which signifies the end of the "baby" era. I am so thankful I got to experience that era...so many of my friends are currently searching out options because their bodies can't make babies. I am thankful I'm alive and I get to see this life HE has laid out for me. I get to see all the bad choices I made (which were devastating at the time) be turned into some of the most beautiful moments of my life. I have gotten to check so many things off my bucket list which is also something I'm thankful for, because that shows me that I am out there LIVING and not afraid to try new things and meet new people. I am thankful for the sushi guy at Publix deli who can rock out some sushi for my family in under 5 minutes flat and dinner is done! I am thankful that we have money in our checking account, central heat and air, food in our pantry, warm beds for us to crawl into soon and last but not least, that our family is ever growing and changing and I get to be here to witness it all. This time last year, Josh was a dot on a radar far, far away. Tomorrow, I will be eating turkey with my 6 month old Joshie on my lap with a tear in my eye as I remember his mom and wonder how she is spending Thanksgiving Day with her family.

So, that's it...I'm just thankful.

Our Family Trip to Disney World: Day 4, Magic Kingdom AGAIN!

2009-11-17T11:46:00.001-08:00

We had decided that since we had already done a bit of Epcot, we wouldn't need a whole day at that park like we had originally planned for Friday. Instead, we decided another day at Magic Kingdom would be great, especially for the little ones. We decided to meet at 9am at the bus stop, with everyone getting breakfast on their own. I noticed on this trip that the buses seemed to be few and far between. We waited almost 30 minutes for a bus.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom and headed straight for Toontown. I took Mary Elizabeth and Anna to Minnie's house (which I don't think I had EVER been in) and then we headed on to Mickie's house.

I *think* everyone else was hanging out at the play area. After we all got back together, we decided it was time for the train. These pics were taken as we waited for the train to arrive.

We enjoyed a wonderful trip all the way over to Adventureland, where we thought we were going to ride Splash Mountain, but it wasn't running. We also thought we would attempt Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but it was PACKED so we decided to head over to Pirates. Everyone loved Pirates and when we got done, we were definitely pretty hungry. We had a quick service meal planned for lunch so we pulled out the map and decided on Pinocchio Village Haus, which is right near the carousel and Dumbo. As we got near the restaurant, we saw Peter Pan so the girls got their pic made with him. We got our lunch and found a beautiful spot on the upstairs outdoor patio. We were the only ones up there and really enjoyed our awesome view.

NEXT POST: More of Day 4

Mary Elizabeth's Hair

2009-11-11T13:49:00.001-08:00

In case any of you are wondering how much Mary Elizabeth's hair has grown since we started styling it a year ago, these pics were taken on Friday when it was time to get a new "do". Her hair has been braided with beads for Disney, so after almost four weeks it was time to take it down and get some puffs. Here's before:
Here's after her hair was taken out of braids and this pic totally cracks me up:

Here's the final "do" which I love. Can't believe how big she looks:

Our Family Trip to Disney World: Day 3, Downtown Disney at night

2009-11-11T13:09:00.001-08:00

We had originally planned to do Downtown Disney on night four, but since we were already mixing the plan up a bit decided it was a perfect night to head to Downtown Disney after Hollywood Studios. We didn't have dining reservations for dinner, so we decided to just wing it knowing we could find something yummy.

For those of you that haven't been to Downtown Disney, it's basically a huge area filled with shopping, restaurants, etc. Many people assume Downtown Disney is another name for Main Street at Magic Kingdom, but it's actually a whole area. Some of the things we love about Downtown Disney are the MASSIVE Lego store, the MASSIVE Disney store, the MASSIVE pin trading store and the atmosphere. My boys love all the different life size displays made out of Legos.

We took the bus over and found some great photo ops.
Now, two things you might notice about this picture. First, Mary Elizabeth in her Snow White costume. Adorable, I know. I had found this at a yard sale earlier in the year and had grand visions of her wearing it at one of the parks, but then reality set in and I realized it would probably be uncomfortable, not to mention hot. I decided Downtown Disney was the perfect place for her to wear it and sure enough, many people commented on what a precious Snow White she was. She liked twirling in it which was adorable. Second, you are probably wondering where Luke is. Well, look carefully, he is next to Tigger. This is probably an appropriate time to tell you that after we returned home from Disney, I noticed Luke wasn't acting "right". I took him to the doctor twice and basically told the doctor I had a "mother's instinct" that something just wasn't right. Sure enough, we found out he has had mono. Looking at these pictures, I can't help but feel like a bad mom that we drug his little mono butt all over Disney world for five days not even realizing the reason he was so pooped was because he was sick.

After the photos, we decided it was time for some serious pin trading. The cool thing about the pin shop at DTD is that outside they have little tables set up where you can trade with the general public. Our family had all split up so we took some extra time in the pin shop and then traded a bunch of pins with two different traders outside. Isaac and Luke both picked out some pins to buy and then we decided it was definitely time to find some dinner.

The kids were starting to get frustrated because they couldn't agree on where to eat. We finally settled on McDonald's. Yes, we are on vacation and my children decide their ideal meal is McDonald's. J and I decided it wasn't worth the fight so we battled the crowds and ordered Mickey D's. We proceeded to sit down and eat in the loudest, nastiest McDonald's I have ever been in and I was immediately reminded why I avoid these places like the plague. I could literally feel my hips expanding as I ate the cheeseburger. Then, one of the boys spilled a drink which resulted in total meltdown of our entire party. Mary Elizabeth screaming "MORE PLEASE!" because she is hungry and can't figure out why we are all scrambling around trying to clean up sprite, Jonathan trying to calm down the boys who are both crying because they are afraid they are in trouble, Anna trying to find napkins, and me trying to tell Mary Elizabeth to be quiet. It was the darlings doing dinner.

After the stressful dinner, we decided to walk around some more and do some window shopping and quickly decided we were exhausted and were ready for bed. We found the rest of our group and headed for the buses. We got back to the room and were all quickly asleep, excited for another day at Magic Kingdom in the morning!

NEXT: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and back on Day 4.

Our Family Trip to Disney World: Day 3, Hollywood Studios

2009-11-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

I will admit that I woke up even more excited on Thursday than I had been the day before. You see, Hollywood Studios (AKA MGM) is my FAVORITE park. I'm not sure why other than the first two trips to Disney (that I actually remember) both involve magical memories at MGM. I will never forget my first experience on Tower of Terror or seeing that wonderful Ms. Piggy fountain by the Muppets. I LOVE THIS PARK! Here's Jonathan and I before we headed to breakfast:
I should also take a minute to give a big shout out to Aunt Ali who made us ALL matching Mickey Mouse shirts (see ours in above pic) She was so generous in doing this for all of us and I can't even begin to tell you how many compliments we got on the shirts throughout the day (even from people who WORKED at Disney) It also made it very easy to spot everyone in our big ole group.

We had decided that it would be best for everyone in our group to do breakfast on your own and meet at the bus stop at 9am to head to Hollywood Studios. We opted to do a simple breakfast using our snack credits on the dining plan. We did cereal, muffins, etc. which was fine since we had a big lunch planned.

Here's our group as we got to Hollywood Studios. Notice all the adorable Mickey shirts.

We immmediately headed towards Tower of Terror. We didn't get far though because we kept popping in and out of gift shops and that is when I found THE Princess Tiana costume. It was simply stunning and I KNEW I had to have it for Mary Elizabeth. We had the costume delivered back to the hotel as I didn't want to lug it around all day.

We got to Tower of Terror and Uncle Josh, Papa Eddie, Jonathan, me, Isaac and Luke decided we wanted to ride. I was giddy with excitement and even more excited that Uncle Josh had never rode on it before. The line wasn't long at all and before you knew it, we were heading up in the elevator. We had a blast and then headed back to meet our crew. After we met up, we decided to do Rock n Roller Coaster. This time it was me, Uncle Josh, Jonathan, Anna, Isaac and Luke. I was really excited because even though this was my third time to Disney in three years, both times before this ride had been closed. It definitely met my expectations and has definitely been moved to the top of the list of my favorite rides.

We got back to find the rest of our family cracking up. The street performers had started chatting with Papa Eddie and this lady fell in love with Papa Eddie. Here's Papa Eddie (my dad):
Here's the actress who fell in LOVE posing with Anna:
She told Papa Eddie she instantly knew he was from Tennessee because he was the only "ten I see!" The street actors and actresses are top notch at Hollywood Studios and I've decided that would be one of my dream jobs. Dressing up, taking on a different persona and talking to tourists all day (especially picking on them and cracking jokes).

We then headed over to the Playhouse Disney area and decided to see the show. It featured Little Einsteins, Pooh and Friends, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This was probably Mary Elizabeth's favorite part of the trip. You sat criss cross applesauce on the floor and all the characters were puppets (which was just fine with Ms. I'm scared of anything full sized in a costume) and the music was loud. Lots of kids sang and danced along and Mary clapped a few times with excitement. Here's Aunt Ali and Maggie enjoying the show followed by a pic of the stage:

Now it was time to eat (again!) so we headed to our sit down meal of the day on our dining plan: italian food at Mama Melrose's. We had decided this would be our BIG meal of the day and I must say, it hit the spot. I got the tomato and mozzarella salad (aka caprese salad) and a ceasar salad. It was SUPER yummy and our service was awesome. This was one of the few sit down dining places where we didn't have to wait past our reservation, which was extra nice considering it was about 3 degrees cooler than hell outside.

After lunch, we headed to the Muppet store gift shop where the kids traded pins and we browsed around. Anna also purchased her first (and I think only) souvenir. Mom and dad decided to split off and head back to the pool. Ali, Uncle Josh, Maggie, and our entire family decided it was time for TOY STORY MANIA. Not only did we have a great time, but my boys enjoyed it so much they are now asking for this game for their Wii from Santa. From there, my family split from Ali's family and we headed to the animation place near Playhouse Disney. We waited inline, watched the awesome movie at animation at Disney, and then got a sneak peek at lots of memorabilia from The Princess and the Frog movie that is coming out December 11. As we walked out from this area, we noticed that their was an animation class and some character spots. We decided to stand in line to meet Mickey. We were a little unsure at how this would go since (as mentioned before) Mary Elizabeth was NOT A FAN of anything life sized and in costume but she did surprisingly well. Here's a few pics:

After Mickey, we decided it was time to head back. I stopped at guest services as the clerk from the store with the Tiana costume had accidentally kept my debit card (which I noticed and freaked about over lunch), so I had to go there and claim it. As we were approaching the guest services, the sky opened up and it POURED. We put on our Walmart ponchos that mom had bought for everyone before the trip, headed to guest services and hung out there for a while during the monsoon that occurred outside. The kids traded pins, we chatted with an awesome cast member named Les, and then finally decided to brave the rain and make a run for the buses. While we were waiting for the buses, Aunt Ali and her crew walked up so we were able to ride back to Coronado with them. We got back to the hotel and decided as a group we would do Downtown Disney. We decided to meet at the bus stop after everyone had time to freshen up.

UP NEXT: Downtown Disney

Our Family Trip to Disney World: Day 2, Magic Kingdom

2009-10-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

After a very restful night's sleep at Coronado, we were up and at 'em by 7:30am. I was so excited because Jonathan was flying in later that night and we all missed him terribly! Today was Magic Kingdom and I'm not sure what I was more excited about: that feeling you get when you are standing at the beginning of Main Street with that amazing castle out in front of you OR seeing our girls in their custom Minnie outfits made by Melissa, owner of Jam Clothing Co.

We headed to the bus stop to meet the crew to head over to the Magic Kingdom. I love the look on Mary Elizabeth's face as she looks at Anna at the bus stop.

As we walked towards the Magic Kingdom, we realized we were there in time for opening or "rope drop" as they call it. The show was really neat and as security checked our bags and strollers, we were getting more and more excited about getting into the park. We stopped at guest services to get Josh's GAC card (for medical emergencies) and then we went straight to Crystal Palace for our 9:30 breakfast reservation. This pic was taken right before we headed into the nice, air conditioned restaurant for breakfast (it was HOT!)

Crystal Palace is a buffet style character dinner so on our dining plan, this counted as our one sit down meal of the day (we got one sit down, one quick service and one snack) We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of Mickey pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, blah, blah, blah. I even had a bowl of Frosted Flakes cause I'm on vacation too! Pooh and all his friends came around to greet the children, sign autographs and take pictures. Pooh was first and got a pretty warm reception from Maggie, not so much from Mary Elizabeth. She enjoyed them from a distance, but heaven forbid they got close to her. She would start screaming, "No! No!" and swatting her arms. Hence, the pics are sans Mary Elizabeth.

After breakfast, we were ready to ride some rides. We headed straight over to Dumbo and stood in line in the heat. We were all gross by the time we got up to the ride and actually got on. Keep in mind, the crowds weren't that bad, but still a 20 minute wait in hell type temps can make anyone feel gross after a while. Everyone loved Dumbo and then we headed to the carousel where we walked right on. Then it was on to It's a Small World. The kids LOVED this ride and even though that adorable little song would be like a death wish were you to get trapped on this ride, it is awesome to see all the little children chanting that adorable little song. Here's a pic of Anna and Maggie I snapped from behind on IASW:
After IASW, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. Not everyone rode this ride and when we came out after the ride, everyone who had been waiting on us was literally melting. Mary Elizabeth literally drank two full glasses of ice water in the 20 minutes we were gone. We decided it was time to cool down and do Splash Mountain. I should mention that this is Isaac and Luke's favorite ride so it ended up being me, Isaac, Luke, Anna, Uncle Josh and Papa Eddie. As we headed to the ride's entrance, we noticed that the stand by line wait was 45 minutes. I asked Josh to show the cast member at the front of the ride the GAC since that is what they told us to do at guest services (up until this point, we just waited in line). The cast member pointed us to the fast pass line and told us to go ahead. Wait, what? We don't have a fast pass, we have a GAC. Well, I guess in Disney's eyes it's the same thing. We literally were on the ride within 10 minutes. No melting Uncle Josh. It was amazing and we felt so blessed to have that little card. Splash Mountain rocked and we met back with the rest of the crew.

At this point, it's 1pm and we were hot, hungry and tired. We decided to head back to our resort and hit the pool. Papa Eddie, Juju, Aunt Ali, Uncle Josh, Maggie and Mary Elizabeth headed back to the room for the girls to nap while I took the rest of my crew to the food court at Coronado for lunch. It was AWESOME and we enjoyed our counter service meal of the day. From there, we headed back to the room, changed into our suits and hit the AMAZING pool. This sign was on the way back to our room and my kids loved it (talked about the sharks every day)
The great thing about Coronado's pool is that they have an awesome water slide that even I enjoyed! The pool is HUGE and they even have a baby pool so there are activities for the entire family.

We headed back to the room to take showers and get freshened up and then we decided to hit Epcot. If you stay at a Disney owned resort, every day you qualify for extra magic hours at one of the parks. It just so happened that Epcot, which normally closes at 9pm, was open to midnight that specific night for extra magic hours. We headed to the park and immediately went and rode the ride in the big ball (sorry, can't remember the name). From there, we went straight to Soarin', which is one of our favorite rides. Then, we went straight to Test Track which was not working so we decided to head over to the Food and Wine Festival in the worlds part of Epcot. Wow, was it packed. We were also starving because my crew had only eaten lunch and no dinner. At this moment, I opted for the bad mom card and let my kids eat ice cream for dinner. They were so excited and I was very thankful that they stopped whining. We watched the fireworks show and then decided to head back to the hotel.

Jonathan arrived around 11pm to a room full of sleeping kids and a sleeping mommy. Isaac and Luke were so excited to see their daddy that they all decided they wanted to stay in our room so we literally had 4 kids in a queen bed. It was quite the sight. We were just thankful to have daddy there! Next post: Hollywood Studios (my favorite park!)

Magic Kingdom Picture

2009-10-29T14:35:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know I haven't done my second day at Disney yet, but I plan to work on Day 2 tomorrow. Until then, I thought I would wet your appetite with this pic that Uncle Josh took at the Magic Kingdom. Yes, he took this. Looks like a postcard huh?

Our Family Trip to Disney World: Day 1, Animal Kingdom

2009-10-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

*My last post in this series will include lots of planning resources, websites, etc. that I used to help plan our vacation* There were 11 of us on this trip: my immediate family which includes me, my husband, 11 year old daughter, 7 year old twin boys and 2 year old daughter. My sister's family which included her, her husband and their 2 year old. Last, but not least, my parents: JuJu and Papa Eddie.

Our trip to Disney World in FL started on a Tuesday morning. We had decided to fly Southwest airlines simply because we wanted a direct flight since we were flying with 2 toddlers and we didn't want to have to pay for our checked baggage since we had a total of 11 bags between the 11 of us. It just so happened that the rates for the time we wanted to go were VERY high, especially for our return flight, so I would definitely recommend you try to plan your vacation further out than we did (6 weeks) and I would set yourself up to receive dings from Southwest if your travel dates are flexible. I have heard that you can get flights pretty cheap if you just continue to watch.

Since our flight was at 8am, we got to the airport around 6:30am. Southwest in Nashville is great in that they have seperate check in lanes for families with small children, so we were able to walk right up to the counter, get our bags checked, and get through security with no issues at all. *I will also take this pause to tell you to read through all your Disney paperwork that they send you beforehand. They provide special tags for you to not only identify your luggage, but it also tells them what hotel you will be staying in* They do this so that you literally don't touch your luggage again until it arrives in your room a few hours after you land. You should keep this in mind and not pack anything you will need right away because if you plan to go straight to the parks like we did, you won't have access to your luggage before you go. Here we are on the plane:

Sorry you won't find a picture of Papa Eddie and the boys, it didn't turn out good.

The flight is pretty quick, I think about 1 1/2 hours so we really didn't have an issue with the kids getting bored. Matter of fact, Mary Elizabeth curled up in my lap and took a nap which was perfect.

We arrived at the airport and headed straight for B1 where Disney's free transportation check in is. If you have already registered for all of this in your reservations, you literally have your info book stamped and walk straight to the bus for your hotel. You load onto a nice motorcoach that takes you to your resort. This typically takes about 45 minutes but because my children were fascinated that the bus had a restroom, this kept them occupied for most of the trip. That, and the fact that they show a video about Disney on the buses.

Disney has three levels of resorts: basic, moderate and deluxe. Because our flights were more expensive than we had originally planned, we ended up staying in a moderate resort. This basically means that it has no direct access to any of the theme parks, but does have a pretty amazing pool and bus transport to the parks. We chose Coronado Springs based on a friend's recommendation and I have to tell you, it was NICE! Matter of fact, we had previously stayed at Polynesian and Beach Club, and the only thing this resort lacked was monorail access. The food court was amazing and the pool was REALLY nice. We got to the resort around 11am (remember, they are an hour ahead of Nashville) and were pleasantly surprised to hear that my room was ready. It was great to be able to go and dump our carry on bags, etc. before heading to the parks. If you plan to stay at Coronado, I would highly suggest you stay at the Cabanas. The resort is HUGE with multiple areas, but the Cabanas area not only puts you close to the bus stop, but also to a fabulous pool with an amazing waterslide, play ground, arcade and snack bar.

After we dropped our items off, we immediately headed for the bus stop. Here's a pic of everyone (minus Mary and I) at the bus stop waiting for our bus to Animal Kingdom:

We immediately headed to Animal Kingdom. This was our favorite park last time so we decided to start there since we only had a few hours prior to our dinner reservation. We got there and realized it was HOT! Like 95 degrees with it feeling like over 100. Thank goodness we had checked the weather long before we came and had planned our wardrobe accordingly. I will also take a minute to tell you that my kids love pin trading, so we immediately found a cast member with a lanyard as we entered and the kids were so excited to start trading pins. Here's some pics of the kids as we entered the park:

We immediately searched out lunch, as by this point, we were all starving. We had gotten FREE dining because of the time of year we had booked and it was an incentive. Basically we received one snack, one counter service meal and one sit down dining meal per night we had a room. Disney does a great job with their maps so we were able to quickly find a counter service meal that everyone agreed on. A counter service meal allows you to pick a main course, a drink and a dessert so it's actually quite a bit of food. While we ate, the kids loved that all the animals roamed around our feet. We had ducks and various other birds that were very anxious to see if they kids would drop any food.

We then headed to Dinoland where you will find the most little kid friendly rides, although their isn't much in this particular park for small children. Pair that with the heat and our little ones were pretty miserable pretty quickly. We did ride a few rides, including Dinosaur. My parents kept the 2 little ones while the rest of us rode. It is an awesome, scary ride but my older children are thrill junkies like me so we all enjoyed it. By the time we were finished with that ride, my sister's family and JuJu and Papa Eddie were ready to head back and get checked in to their room. They took Mary Elizabeth with them but my older three and I stayed at Animal Kingdom for the parade, which we had never seen. It. was. amazing. The detail that goes into these parades is amazing and we really enjoyed it even though it was so hot. I literally took about 40 pics of this parade so here's just a sampling:

From there, we had to book it to make our dinner reservation at 5pm. We had dinner booked at Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge, another resort on Disney property. We had heard about Boma from the same person who told us about Coronado so we were really excited to try the food. My older three and I were able to hop on a bus from Animal Kingdom over to the lodge, but everyone else who had gone back to the hotel quickly found out that you can't go from resort to resort via the bus system. You must take the bus to a park and then catch the other bus over to the new resort. Needless to say, we finally started dinner about 45 minutes late because of how long transportation takes. The food at Boma was WONDERFUL. It is buffet style with lots of African themed dishes, but they still had a great selection of "normal" food as my kids call it. The dessert section was wonderful.

After dinner, we headed back to Coronado Springs to take a look at the pool area and then it was time to turn in for the night. One of the great things about Coronado is that it is the only moderate resort that features two queen beds, so it was very comfortable for me and the girls to sleep peacefully. Isaac and Luke stayed in Papa Eddie and Juju's room. Mickey (aka mommy) also brought special gifts to the room for Isaac and Luke. You see, we had special outfits made for Mary Elizabeth, Maggie and Anna that had Minnie Mouse on them (THANKS Melissa!) so Mickey felt bad for the boys and bought them Wall-E shirts. It's little things like that help spread the Disney magic, so I always try to plan souvenirs long before we go because it saves us so much money and my kids never beg to buy anything while in the parks.

That's it for our first day, next post will be on Day 2: Magic Kingdom!

Our Family Trip To Disney World

2009-10-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

I know I've been bad at blogging lately, but between fall break, our family trip to Disney, coming home to sick kids and a zillion other things, it honestly hasn't been a top priority. I decided today that it's time to catch up the blog and the best way to do that is to tell you about our trip to Disney World 10/13-10/18 in a day by day blogfest. I will be including pics, details of what we did, what we wished we could have done and what we would do different. I am doing this because I know how helpful it is to me to read others personal experiences with vacations so I'm hoping it will help out another family. Even if it kills me, I will have our first day post up tomorrow night so stay tuned!

What We Did Do When M.E. Turned Two

2009-10-12T06:20:00.001-07:00

Mary Elizabeth turned 2 on August 7 but since we were starting consignment sale madness we decided to hold off and do her party on August 29th here at the house. We went with a Dr. Seuss theme because she loves the books and because we thought it would be cute.

Melissa from Jam Clothing Co. made her beautiful Dr. Seuss dress.
She also made a coordinating skirt for Anna and as an added surprise, an adorable THING 2 shirt for Joshua. Her eye for detail is amazing and I highly recommend any of her custom clothing!

We held the party late afternoon/early evening and decided to serve breakfast for dinner. We originally planned to have green eggs and ham, but then decided people wouldn't eat it because it looked gross so we just fixed scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, and potato casserole. Angie V. brought cheese grits as well. Here's a pic of the spread of food:

Mary Elizabeth loves to eat...seriously, it's one of her favorite hobbies. She was so excited to eat all that yummy food sitting that she could see in front of her on the table:

After "dinner", it was time to open presents and boy, did we have a ton of them to open. This pic shows our table where we had the goodie bags on top and all the presents for Mary underneath:
Almost everyone we invited to the party got to come, so although our house was packed, it was so much fun to see all the little kids running around! Mary Elizabeth got loads of cool stuff: toys, doll accessories including a doll pack and play and a doll stroller, clothing, etc. She had so much fun ripping into presents.

Next, it was back to the kitchen for cupcakes! Mandy LeMay made these awesome cupcakes to match Mary Elizabeth's dress. Everyone raved about how great they tasted:

Last, but not least, it was time for the pinata. I actually found the pinata shaped like a number 2 at Encores North. Someone brought a brand new pinata in and had it priced for $3 so I was pumped. We brought it home, filled it up with candy, and the kids HAD A BLAST beating the fire out of it. When the candy came spilling out, all the kids kind of stood there for a minute not sure what to do. We yelled "go get the candy!!" and they were off.

I think everyone had a great time, especially Mary Elizabeth. It's hard to believe she is already two and even harder to believe how big she is now compared to how tiny she was starting out. She is such a sweet girl...her smile and personality immediately light up any room she's in. I am blessed woman to be able to be her mommy.

More Info: Beech Country Day October 3, 2009

2009-10-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses: I have the first copy of all the items to be auctioned during the LIVE auction at Beech Elementary's Country Day. For those of you that don't know, Beech calls their annual fall festival country day and it serves as the largest fundraiser for the school's PTO. Since we moved to Hendersonville, I have been so impressed with how well run country day is and if you are looking for something to do tomorrow, I would highly suggest bringing your whole family down to enjoy a fun day at our school.

Country Day runs from 9am-3pm with the live auction running from 10:30-12:30pm. During country day, you buy bracelets for your kids for $15 each and that allows them to do all the games/activities. The most any family will spend on bracelets is $45 so if you have a herd like us, don't fear, $45 is the most you will spend. Kids 3and under are free. There will also be extra paid activities like the dunking booth, a car you can smash (only in TN) and MASH. Food will be available for lunch and there will also be booths to shop at in the gym area.

Now for the best part: the auction. The thing I love about Country Day's auction is that the items that have been donated are things that you can and will actually use. I can't give you a detailed list of items, but I am excited to share with you more details of items to be sold. The best part? All the money goes to the school!

I can tell you that there are more than 60 lots being auctioned tomorrow. If you are a UT, Vandy, Predators, or Titans fan, you don't want to miss this auction. Lots of great packages that include tickets, hotel stays and other awesome gear! If you could buy a car for what you spend on your child's orthodontics, again, don't miss this auction. Awesome gift certificates donated by Dr. Doyle, Dr. Taylor, and Dr. Mary Kay Koen. One of my favorite items is a private shopping party at The Kids Clothes Basket where you and 10 of your friends get to shop with 40% discounts off your ENTIRE PURCHASE! You can even bid on a load of crusher run if you need to fill in some spots in your gravel driveway. If you are a Beech Buc, there are two baskets custom weaved by the Longaberger company in Beech colors so you can make all your friends envious while you tailgate. My other favorite item is so freaking cool: Chef Nigel Cox (former chef to Princess Diana) will customize a dinner party for 8. He will help you design your menu, shop, prepare and serve your meal. What an awesome Christmas party that would be. Don't forget we are auctioning off a BRAND NEW PT Cruiser so if you need a car, you need to come. Of course, I have to mention being the FIRST person to shop Encores North at the Spring 2010 sale. AND THERE IS SO MUCH MORE!

If you have questions, leave a comment and I'll be checking my phone. I plan to update tomorrow night to let you know what some of the items go for. THANKS FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT COME OUT TO COUNTRY DAY!

Want to be the FIRST person to shop at Encores North Spring 2010 sale?

2009-10-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Well, let me tell you how to do it.

In case you didn't know, the ONLY people that shop before the workers are me, my mom, my sister, my mother-in-law, and my best friend Angie who works about 200 hours per sale with me. Otherwise, the first shoppers enter at 5pm on worker day. Those workers either work or barter to be able to shop at 5pm and we value their 3 shifts plus sort to be worth $200.

This Saturday, October 3, at Beech Elementary in Hendersonville there will be a live auction that is held during Country Day, our annual fall festival. At that live auction, ANYONE can bid on a certificate that will allow you to shop at 12pm on worker day which is a full FIVE HOURS of shopping with no worries of someone else getting items you want.

The auction will start at 10:30am and the certificate will only allow ONE ADULT to shop and will be sold for the highest bid. All money from the auction will go to Beech Elementary! There are also tons of other items to be auctioned including a PT CRUISER so come check it out. Tons of games for the kids, food, live and silent auctions and other activities. Come out and see us and HAPPY BIDDING! I can't wait to see who wins!

P.S. Just found out a few more things that will be auctioned: Kenny Chesney autographed guitar, Miley Cyrus autographed guitar, Taylor Swift autographed guitar, night at Vanderbilt Lowe's with Ruth Chris gift card, Titans tickets, and Predator tickets. I think I also heard they are auctioning Disney theme park tickets!

Random Goodness

2009-09-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've got some more awesome things to share with you guys. In case you are new to this blog, from time to time I like to share some of my personal favorites. I do not get anything free for writing these reviews, quite honestly...I think most of them never even know I have eaten there, shopped there, etc.

My friend Kelly, mama to Nathan (Mary Elizabeth's future husband), is an awesome crafter and made the most adorable dress for M.E. for her birthday. She has now decided to start sewing again and is selling her items on etsy. The best part? All the money she raises from her sewing will go towards their second adoption. I'm hoping they adopt a girl so Joshua can also have an arranged marriage and heck, we could save some money and have a double wedding. A girl can dream right? Click on her name above for a link to her blog where she is also giving away an adorable dress to help bring more traffic and awareness to her site. I'm hoping I win!

Do you love cupcakes? Honestly, I'm normally not a big fan of cake period but when I heard my friends Rebecca and Elizabeth were making up some yummy cupcakes and selling them at Papaboo's in Greenbrier, well...I had to try one. Sunday we got the chance and I've been talking about that cupcake all week (lemon raspberry). It was AMAZING! These suckers are so good and so cheap ($1.50 a cupcake) that you will begin to feel your car drive itself to PapaBoo's and buy cupcakes. We are having some friends over for dinner tomorrow night, so I found myself back in Greenbrier today to get cupcakes for dessert tomorrow night. I can't wait to see all these adult faces light up when they see these masterpieces! Check out Liz and Rebecca's site HERE for a daily flavor menu and go buy you some cupcakes. Hey, you might even want some pizza while your there!

If you are in Gallatin, TN and are looking for a new place to dine, you MUST check out Granberry's on the square. This quaint little deli features hot and cold sandwiches, soups, chips, and awesome drinks (most in the old time glass bottles). Angie V. and I checked it out and both gave it a huge THUMBS UP! My favorite was their white bean soup, it was TO DIE FOR! The atmosphere is awesome, staff is super nice and laid back, and overall service was great. I love a good locally owned restaurant and I promise you will not regret a trip to Granberry's! I can't wait to go back.

Last but not least, if you find yourself in a pickle and need to sell your home OR if you know of someone who has an estate to auction, you MUST call Ray Carman at Gene Carman Realty. Although I was sick as a dog on Saturday, I wanted to spend the day with my hubby and he was already committed to working with Ray at his auction in Gallatin. I LOVE working auctions (even when I feel like crap) and it was nice to sit back and watch Ray and his family not only sell a farm and all the personal property, but I got to watch them witness to not only the family, but to every person there. Ray and his family sprinkled in so many examples of Christ's love throughout the day and I was honestly proud to be representing his team. He is thorough and works his butt off...he spent over 6 weeks alone at this farm preparing for the auction. You are going to pay commission when you buy or sell a home and I feel like Ray earns every penny.

Consignment Woes

2009-09-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

I probably shouldn't put this out there. I've dealt with horrible migraines all week on top of some yucky sinus stuff, so I'm sure that is helping with the fact that this email I received today honestly just makes me want to rock in a corner and cry. I am putting this out there because my hope is that anyone reading this will think long and hard before you are ugly to someone who runs a business. I know I have had times where I want to rip someone a new one, but it feels differently when you are on the opposite end.

Today I received an email from someone accusing me of being dishonest, a thief, and many other things. She was upset about something that happened at the consignment sale and honestly, I was just floored at how she came at me like a bull in a china shop. She and I have been emailing back and forth over the course of this week and I could tell she was getting more and more frustrated with me because I wasn't giving her the answer she wanted. I won't go into more specifics for privacy sake, but I will say that I work my rump off to make sure that 100% of my consignors are happy and I will do anything I can (within reason) to make sure that people are satisfied with the customer service they receive and their overall perception of Encores North. The last thing I expected to be accused of was being dishonest and a thief. Do I make mistakes? Yes. Absolutely. You Betcha. BUT I am more than willing to admit our mistakes and make them right. I guess that's why this email came as such a shock especially when in this instance, we didn't make a mistake.

So, I'll leave it at that. I learned some valuable lessons today:

1. THINK and PRAY about what I type before I type it and certainly before I send it.
2. Put myself in the other person's shoes before I send something that could be read as ugly.
3. Consider that I might have made a mistake before automatically assuming that it is another person's fault.
4. Treat others the way I want to be treated. I hope I never make someone feel the way I felt while reading that email today. From now on, I hope to remember that moment when I am ready to rip someone else a new one.
5. Don't read email while I have a migraine.

Sarah

2009-09-16T09:39:00.001-07:00

When we first started the process of adopting, we knew we would be open to race and some medical issues. For us, it was a non issue and although we knew it would make our family a little "different", well, let's face it....we've always been a tad on the weird side.

In true Brea fashion, I began devouring anything I could get my hands on to read about transracial adoption. I searched the internet and joined sites about adopting transracially, african american culture and traditions, etc. That's when I met Sarah. Come to find out, she lives here in Nashville and adopted a beautiful little girl Bella. She was so great to me, answering any and all questions I had about Bethany Christian Services and what it was like to be a transracial family in Nashville. Her smile is contagious and her willingness to be an open book to our family made me feel more confident about the journey we were embarking on.

After we adopted Mary Elizabeth, Bethany has a huge fundraiser each year called the new friends dinner. I was so excited to see Sarah and tell her our news and sure enough, as I walked into the hotel lobby she was the first person I saw. She was so excited for us and it was so neat to tell my "adoption mentor" our exciting news.

The reason I am typing this all out is because Sarah has breast cancer that has now spread into stage 4 cancer in her lungs. She is scared and yet her attitude through her sickness has been amazing. You can't help but listen to her and hear God speak through her. One of her latest updates on facebook said "I'm not scared of dying. I'm scared of how much of Bella's life I may miss....." She finds out this Friday, September 19 if the cancer has spread to other parts of her body including her brain and I am asking all of you that read this to lift her family up. Her husband's name is Dave and I can't imagine how hard all of this is on him as well.

So, if you don't mind, join me in praying for this beautiful family. Our God is a God that can move mountains and if he wants to heal Sarah, he can do it. Her webite is HERE and I'm sure she would love some positive encouragement there as well (you can leave messages on this board)

A Weekend Getaway

2009-09-03T20:07:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow will be a very emotional day for me. Tomorrow morning, my mom and dad are taking Joshua and I to the airport where we will board a plane for Houston. We are going to visit his birthmom and this will be the first time she has seen him since he was 4 days old.

As I type, he is WIDE awake at 10pm at night. It's like he knows he has a big day ahead tomorrow. I would by lying if I didn't admit that I am a nervous wreck. I remember she and I sitting in the hospital guessing how big he would be at this visit. We both decided he would be 13 lbs. We were both wrong. He's about 16 lbs with a head full of hair and a personality to boot! He goes from completely happy to completely insane when he gets hungry. He laughs out loud, is trying so hard to roll his big booty over, and loves his toes.

I wonder what his mom will think when she sees him. Will she regret her decision to place Joshua with us? Will she feel like she made the right decision? I personally can't wait to see her beautiful face.

Jonathan flies down tomorrow night and we will drive to Dallas where we will meet up with our friends for a leadership conference for RLC. I'm excited to see our friends Russ, Angel, Sam and Wendy and to meet all the other faces that make up the inner workings of RLC. We are there until Monday while the troops watch the rest of our children here at our home. I am so thankful to our family and our babysitters who are helping us make this trip possible.

I'm sure I'll do an update from Houston with details of our visit, but in the mean time, say a prayer for Joshua and I tomorrow during our travels and our visit. I'm sure it will be an emotional day for all!

Why Me?

2009-08-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

The consignment sale is officially over, checks have been mailed and Jonathan is doing the final walk through with the leasing company as I type. I'm exhausted. I'm drained. I'm over emotional. I'm thankful to be home with my kids, even though they are already trying my patience :)

I've struggled the last 5 years through the 10, yes 10, consignment sales we have had. We started in March of 2005 simply because God wouldn't leave me alone about starting a consignment sale on the North side of Nashville that offered a clean, heated/cooled environment where the workers were friendly and honest. I wondered if it would be a complete waste of time and a waste of our money as, trust me, starting a consignment sale is not cheap.

Our first sale was held in an empty Family Dollar store in Greenbrier, TN. I am very familiar with this area as this is where I was raised, but most of TN is not that familiar with the location of this first sale. I'd have to pull my paperwork, but I think we had about 45 consignors, less than 10 workers, and lots of sleepless nights. We didn't make a dime, but we did pay ourselves back and I don't think we lost much. There were many times during that first sale where I would ask God, "why me? why did you want ME to do this?" You see, I had a 5 year old and 2 year old twins. I didn't have time to do this, we certainly didn't have the money, and when it's comes to patience, well I'm definitely not the poster child.

It went well enough that we decided to try our hand at the sale again, but this time we moved to a new area, Rivergate, and leased a space next to Chuck E. Cheese. Boy did we grow. The walk in traffic was amazing and we found ourselves selling out of items instantly. Again, we didn't make anything, but we were able to break even and we had a lot of people say how thankful they were to have something like this on our side of town. Most importantly, we were able to donate money and items. We found out about a family who had lost everything and were able to tell them to come shop for free (with us paying for it). We donated all the items at the end of the sale to local charities with an emphasis on charities in dire need of items. We wanted places that would give needy families items, not charge them outrageous amounts for items that we had just given them. We felt God telling us to direct our giving to crisis pregnancy centers, local good samaritan centers and schools. For the first time, I began to see this small seed growing into something bigger and blessing people far beyond what my two hands could reach. In happiness and awe, I asked God "why me?"

I have continued to ask that question to God multiple times over the last four years. Times when consignors were upset with me because we made mistakes and I would cry out "WHY ME?" Times when consignors were upset with me for no fault of our own and again I would say "WHY ME?" Times when a family that Encores North helped came back to us and said "your donation changed our life" and with tears of joy I asked God "why me?"

It was this sale that I got some answers in a way I didn't expect.

I can tell you that this sale was by far the most challenging sale we have had to date. Not only did we grow by over 100 consignors, but our traffic from those shopping the sale was insane. We were never slow, many times I was so exhausted I physically ached and at one point a few days in, I was convinced that if you cut me, I would physically bleed money. You see, my mission for the sale had not changed, but finding a way to accomplish that mission had. I tried to maintain composure as I had various issues pop up along the way. On top of that, I missed my children more than ever, especially knowing my oldest was starting middle school and my youngest daughter would turn 2 during the sale and my sweet baby, Joshua, was only 3 months old and didn't realize why mommy was gone during the sale. All of these together left me again asking God, "why me?" I just want to be at home with my kids, I just want a normal life where I get to sleep a few hours a night, I just want my household back to normal.

And this is what he showed me.

God knew there would be a need for this sale long before I answered the call. He knew that a small little sale that started in a small little town would one day meet the needs of those that were homeless, out of a job, orphans in Ethiopia, and the family nearby who just wanted to save a few bucks on their kid's stroller. He knew that the Brea who started the sale with little money, patience and time would be molded into the Brea who still has little money (hey, we have five kids), lots of learned patience, and that I would learn this reality: Our world is lost. People need God. They need hope, they need fellowship and they need love. I hope our sale provides some of that for those people. I hope people who visit Encores North will find a sea of smiling faces and realize that something is a little different about our crew. Not because our space is clean and big. Not because we have a ton of consignors, but because we truly want to fill a void.

Yes, our sale has issues. We are not perfect and I feel like every sale is another chance for us to get constructive criticism and fix things for the next sale. I am always learning and Lord knows I make enough mistakes to write a book. BUT my mission and my heart remain the same.

So, that's my answer. That's why me. Yes, there are days (like yesterday) that I wished I had never even answered that call, but I also know that is Satan attacking the fire out of me. I am so glad to be back home in my "normal" life and a huge thanks to all the workers, consignors, and shoppers that made our 10th sale our best yet!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

2009-08-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today, we had been officially home study approved and waiting for 10 days. I was already growing impatient and wondering what in the world God had planned for our family.

4 hours away at midnight, Mary Elizabeth's mom was rushed into the hospital with placenta previa and in full labor. She was only 26 weeks pregnant and within 5 minutes, sweet Mary Elizabeth was born. She weighed only 1 lb. 4 oz. but was able to breath on her own until they got her to a hospital with a NICU. Amazing huh?

Fast forward two months later, to the day I got THE call. "Brea, there's a little girl in a NICU that needs a home" I heard my social worker say. As she listed the mountain of special needs this baby girl would have, I already knew she was our daughter even though I wasn't sure we could handle a child that would bring so many health issues to our family. I'll never forget calling Jonathan and telling him about her, knowing he wouldn't be open to it, but praying God would change his heart. Most importantly, I prayed that God would allow me to be submissive and not be mad at my husband when he said no. Sure enough, God did change his heart and on October 13 we brought our sweet Mary Elizabeth home. She weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz at 2 1/2 months old.

As I sit here today, I can't help but testify to the miracle that has been performed in her little body. Mary Elizabeth had a very severe brain bleed as a baby (very common in micro-preemies). The bleed caused fluid to build up in her brain and they had to do surgery to put in a shunt to drain the fluid. She will have that shunt the rest of her life. Because of the area where the bleed occurred, doctors assured us that M.E. would have have cerebral palsy. She also had a scar in her eye and doctors told us she was blind in that eye. She was at risk for infections and was exposed to many horrible things the first two months of her life in that NICU. Today I am proud to say that if M.E. has CP, it is a VERY MILD case only on her left side. She walks, talks, runs, jumps, dances and loves on her siblings. She is NOT blind in her eye...the scar moved as she grew and although she will probably need glasses at some point, she sees 20/20 right now. We've had one scare with a bug bite about a year ago, but other than that our baby girl is as healthy as a horse. Doctors are amazed that a baby born so early is so perfect in every way.

Her personality is contagious. She loves to tell everyone HI! that she comes into contact with. Her favorite activity is eating and although she is petite (22 lbs., 31 inches) she eats my other children under the table. She gets so excited at meal times that she claps her hands and yells "THANK YOU!" as you bring the food towards her in her high chair. She has the most amazing eyes, eyelashes and smile. Her best friend is her thumb and her blankee. When you ask her how old she is, she proudly says TWO but when I hold up two fingers, she believes that a sign that I want a high five and slaps my hand while saying "OH YEAH!"

If you can't tell, I love this little girl to pieces. She has changed me. She allowed me to let go and truly trust in God. I've watched Mary Elizabeth break down racial barriers, jump through physical hoops, and melt people's hearts. I am a better person because I am her mother.

Happy Birthday Mare Bear!

Clothes for me!!

2009-08-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

With all the fuss over the kids' clothing, sometimes I forget about myself. I have found that with 5 children, it is very difficult to shop and spend quality time really putting together outfits. That's why I am so excited about this!

Save the Date!

CAbi Fall '09 Fashion Presentation

Join us at the Encores and More North Consignment Sale site to view the collection of nationally recognized fashion designer, Carol Anderson. You will love the 82 great casual and dress options offered this Fall! We have 7 jeans, 3 belts, 3 scarfs and even a beanie for those of you who love accessories!

Tuesday, August 11th, 6:30pm

Bring a friend and come let Tracy (the consultant) show you how to create the perfect wardrobe for you!! Visit HERE to view the full Fall line before the Trunk Show.

Let me know if you plan to come and again, remember to take some time out to shop for yourself during this crazy back to school season!

Church Camp

2009-07-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Isaac and Luke returned from their first church camp today. They left on Monday and while they were gone, I prayed for their hearts to be changed. I won't lie, I was a little nervous about them being away from home for two nights because they both like to have sweet little night terrors and they both LOVE to sleep walk. Good times at my house. I knew they would be ok though and I just prayed that when it came time for decisions, that their little hearts would stir.

I was so anxious as I picked them up today. I couldn't wait to ask all about camp, but I immediately noticed that they were exhausted so I certainly didn't want to press them too hard. As they climbed in the Burb and we drove off, I slowly began asking "So guys, did you love camp?" Yes. "Did you have a good time?" Yes. "Are you tired?" NO!!! (ok, sorry I asked). I waited a few minutes before I said, "So did you guys learn about Jesus and asking him into your heart?" to which they replied, "Yep, and we also learned how to play tug of war at the mud pit" Great. I waited another few minutes and then said, "So when they had service last night, did you guys think about asking Jesus into your heart?" They paused and then said, "Nope, the line was too long." Well, there you go.

So, tomorrow night, Jonathan and I will again begin the process of explaining salvation to these two guys, but I knew you guys would get a kick out of their responses. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to see a long line again without thinking of them at church camp.

Shopping Review: Pottery Barn Furniture Outlet Memphis, TN

2009-07-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

I got the chance to go to Memphis with my dear friend, Candy, last weekend. It was our second trip and we've decided to make it an annual thing for our birthdays (once in Oct/Nov for hers and once in June/July for mine). Our original reason for REALLY wanting to go last October was to hit the Pottery Barn outlet in Memphis. Since this was our second visit in a year, I thought it might be helpful to others to tell about our experience.

When we went in October 2008, we drove down on Sunday arriving at PB about two hours before they closed. We found a few things, but decided to head back on Monday morning when they opened. We hit the JACKPOT on Monday morning and some of the highlights were white armchairs for your desk that retailed for $379. We got them for $59.97! I also found the NFL quilt that is currently being sold in the Pottery Barn Teen catalog for $50 in full/queen size. Candy totally got the best deal when she found an anywhere chair cover already embroidered with her son's name for next to nothing. They had this whole section of items that had been embroidered that had been returned so we were super pumped when she found something with her son's name on it! My favorite find of the day was the Pottery Barn Kids art table complete with the hutch that has the rolls of paper to color on. I got the whole thing for under $200.

Fast forward to this July. Again, we went on Sunday but got there earlier in the day. We immediately noticed that the prices seemed higher, especially when we found the same table that I had bought in October for under $200 priced at $731. Seriously? I am not even sure it cost that much in the regular store! They were also remodeling and had completely taken out the section with the returns with embroidery. They were offering an additional 20% off the lowest ticketed price on outdoor furniture and any bedroom furniture. We both agreed that their selection was MUCH better on furniture, but the prices were really high...seriously, close to retail. We left without spending a dime, but again decided to head back on Monday morning when they opened. Although I didn't find anything, Candy hit the jackpot Monday morning and found a GORGEOUS dresser for close to 75% off retail. That was THE item she was really looking for so it was definitely a big WIN!

So, here's my advice if you are making the drive to Memphis to go to the outlet. First, call ahead and have them add you to their email list. It is seperate from the "normal" emails you get from Pottery Barn. They will email you when they do specials, additional percentages off, etc. Second, call ahead if you are looking for something specific. We saw them answer the phone multiple times where someone was asking for something specific and they even encourage you to call. If you have your eye on something in the catalog, it can't hurt to call and see if they have it there. We figured your saving at least 20% by buying at the outlet. Third, make your list of what you REALLY need. It would be VERY easy to get off track and blow your budget in there so make sure you are really sticking to a design plan, etc. otherwise you could definitely end up with buyer's remorse and their return policy isn't great. We also found Halloween costumes that were in the current catalog last October so definitely keep that in mind if you plan to pay full price in the catalog!Their phone number is 901-818-9770.

Another thing to keep in mind is that they are now connected to a West Elm outlet and the Williams Sonoma outlet is on the other side. You will definitely want to put directions in your GPS because it is a little off the beaten path. So, if your in Memphis, definitely check it out and leave a comment with your experience.

What's Next

2009-07-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

I've talked about this before, but I've been thinking about it more and more the last few days. Does it surprise anyone else how quickly you are asked about having more kids right after you just had/adopted one? It seemed like within days of J.T.'s homecoming, people were asking J and I "were we done?" or "when are you starting the process again?"

I will be honest, newborn stage has yet again kicked my butt. Literally. I am so tired sometimes that I no longer form coherent sentences, I go days without showering, and I now view a nap as one of the most important things to do in a day.

I will be honest and also admit that after J.T. came home, I felt like this was it. Party of 7 sounds good. No more kiddos for us. We have done what God has called us to do.

BUT if I am really being honest, I can tell you that I just don't know the answers to those questions because I am not in control. Only God knows those answers. I can tell you that once you have crossed over and your eyes have been opened, there is no denying a need for families for orphaned children. Can we afford another adoption? Right now, the answer is no. Do I believe that God would provide if he called us to do it again? Absolutely yes.

So that's my answer for what is next for our family. "Wherever he leads, I'll go" is my answer. Now, mom, don't go start breathing into a paper sack or anything...I'm not saying we are starting another adoption! I'm just challenging all of you. This world is not black and white. There is gray. I want to be different. I want God to use me even if the world thinks I'm weird. I'm ok with weird, I'm ok with gray.

Two Years Ago...

2009-07-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

It seems impossible to me that two years ago my precious niece had just entered the world. It honestly seems like yesterday. On Friday, July 24, Ms. Maggie turned two and we got to help her celebrate at her cow themed party on Saturday morning. Maggie looked adorable with her cow clip in her hair and I loved watching her stand at the front door peeking out the side window anxiously awaiting her guests.

Joshua was very alert during the party and enjoyed showing off to everyone.

Mary Elizabeth loved the fact that they were serving donuts and decided she needed to eat two in honor of Maggie's birthday.

All the kids had a great time, Maggie enjoyed her gifts and the fellowship among friends and family was great.

Last but not least, two years ago was also when we almost lost Uncle Josh. God only knows how thankful we all are that he decided to let him stick around with us. What was one of the scariest nights of my life changed my perspective. I was strongly reminded of what is important. My relationship with Christ first and foremost, my relationship with my wonderful husband, my relationship with my children, and my relationship with my family and friends. This world is full of things that aren't important. It's the relationships that really matter. I am so thankful that we were able to make this photo at Maggie's party.

So happy birthday to Maggie Moo! We love you little girl and are so thankful that we get to watch you grow. A big thanks to Ali for letting me swipe these pics!

A Few More Favorites...

2009-07-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

I have to tell you about a few more things that I accidentally left off my favorites post.

1. POTATO. This is a club for parents of twins, triplets, quads, etc. Although there are groups like this all over the US, POTATO holds it's meetings here in Nashville, TN. Not only do they have monthly meetings, special events like zoo outings, and an online email support group, they also have a great consignment sale that is held twice a year. They usually have around 45 consignors and you must be a member to sell, but the public can shop. If you are looking for a double or triple stroller, you are SURE to find one here. Also a great place to finding matching outfits for multiples. Here's the scoop for their next sale which will be held August 8.

2. Painturo's. This great little place to eat is located in Lebanon, Gallatin and Goodlettsville. I have only ate at the Goodlettsville location (right in front of Publix beside Dunkin Donuts). I had to share this awesome place with you because not only are they locally owned, but they have AWESOME food and kids 10 and under EAT FREE all the time. Jonathan swears they have the best Calzone's, I LOVE their spaghetti, and the kids love everything on their kids menu. Their portions are huge, they have great lunch specials and you really can't beat the price! They have no clue who I am so if you mention you saw it on the blog, don't be surprised if they look at you like your nuts!

3. Consigning Time. Yes, I know I've mentioned Julie before, but I have to tell you how impressed I am with her PRINTABLE maps of all the area consignment sales. Print them out and put them on your fridge and then go support your local sales. We are VERY fortunate here in middle TN to have a large number of consignment sales. Did you know that in some parts of the country, people have never even heard of the concept of consignment sales? Of course, we want Encores and More North to be your favorite, but I also want you to shop all these local sales and support their owners. Go visit Julie's site now and print those calendars! Oh, and Julie, come work with us :) You'll love us, I promise (girls, leave comments and tell her how much fun she will have working at Encores North!)

4. Brandon Schell, owner of Cross Driven Construction. We had a leak in our basement at our last house and Brandon was on it and fixed it in no time. If you need any type of home repair, don't hesitate to call him. We've decided he never sleeps and he will do what he says he's going to do.

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more favorites to add later on!

Love this...

2009-07-24T16:28:00.001-07:00

Thanks Jeanine for sending it to me...so fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Clearance Sign at Toys R Us : Fail

2009-07-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

If you haven't checked out THIS blog, you MUST go. I felt like this sign we saw at Toys R Us in Jackson, TN would be appropriate for that blog. It was advertising a Star Wars toy that was on "sale." Wow, what a bargain. I'll take 3.

Walking in Memphis

2009-07-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

This time tomorrow night I will be resting in a hotel room in Memphis. I am so excited I can't accurately describe it on this blog. I'm only going for a brief 36 hours and yet the thought of a girl's trip is so freaking exciting!

Will I miss my husband? Yes. Will I miss my kids? Yes. Will I enjoy a full night's sleep? Yes.

Candy and I are going to shop at the Pottery Barn outlet, spend our Gymbucks, eat a nice dinner, see a girly movie, and just enjoy time away for our birthdays. We are hoping to make this an annual tradition.

Part of me feels guilty for going and then I think "nah!"

These are a few of my favorite things...

2009-07-13T20:31:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd compile a small list of things I have been meaning to tell you guys about. I wish I had time to do a post on each of these things individually, but I don't, so this is the next best thing.

1. Priority One Real Estate : Ray Carman is the person we used in our last move and you can't ask for a more honest and effective agent. He not only did an awesome job listing and selling our house, but totally went to bat for us when it came time for us to buy a house. Yes, we got our house for 60K less than the original asking price because of lots of prayers and lots of comps that Ray pulled. If you need an agent that can get it done, email him now.

2. Consigning Time and Kids Consignment Sales : Both of these sites have a compiled listing of sales in the Nashville area. Both Julie and Linda do a great job getting all the info to you in a well organized fashion. Don't miss any of the awesome sales you can find in the Nashville area!

3. Red Letters Campaign : Remember me talking about that fabulous couple we stayed with while in Houston? Well, not only do Russ and Angel open their home up to strangers while in town adopting, they also run an awesome non-profit called Red Letters Campaign. RLC exists to connect people who want to give to those who are in need especially in the life of orphans. What started as a small non-profit has turned into a huge gig for this wonderful couple!

4. Craigslist : If you have not yet ventured onto craigslist, what in the world are you waiting for? I swear half of the furniture in my home, both of our vehicles and half of my kids toys have come from craigslist. It's completely free to list items for sale and you can search by city. Yes, I am addicted.

Praying

2009-07-12T12:10:00.001-07:00

I HAD to share this. Pic taken by grandmother at VBS. Guessing this was taken during prayer. We all know how hard it is to keep your eyes closed the WHOLE time during prayer! HA HA

Michael Jackson

2009-07-09T22:00:00.001-07:00

Honestly, I haven't wanted to touch this subject with a ten foot pole, but heard a comment today that really bothered me so I figured I should put my thoughts out there for those of you that care :)

Yes, I grew up loving Michael Jackson. I loved his songs, loved his dancing, etc. but I'm quite sure I've ever been the type of fan that idolized him. I haven't kept up with him much over the years, although I do remember seeing the story of him dangling his son over the railing at that hotel. I also remember thinking it quite odd that he wore pajamas to court. I say all this to give you the extent of my recent Michael Jackson knowledge. Honestly, if you had asked me three weeks ago how many children MJ had and whom they were conceived with, I probably could not have answered that question.

I say all this because someone said today while referring to custody of MJ's kids "well, they probably weren't even his kids anyway"

Now, maybe you see nothing wrong with the above statement. Heck, you might have even said it yourself, but as an adoptive momma I think someone needs to stop and say that just because he may or may not have produced the sperm that fertilized the egg does not equal that he wasn't their father. He has raised these children (from what I have seen in the media) since their birth. He is the only parent these children have ever known. Yes, he was a weird, mixed up man who was probably guilty of lots of disqusting things, but he was still their father.

These children are his children, but more importantly, they are children of God. My immediate family consists of children that I spent hours birthing and children that I spent hours praying for. Some have my DNA, some do not. BUT THEY ARE ALL MY CHILDREN. Yes, two of them didn't come out of womb, but if something happened to me, I would hope and pray that people would not hold them at arm's length because of that small difference in how they came to be part of my family.

Another Resource for Prospective Adoptive Families

2009-07-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

I just realized tonight that I never posted a link to the board that posts adoption situations that they need profiles for. If you click HEREyou will find a moderated list of those situations. We typically used the first link listed AND please be aware that you should always do research on agencies that post situations here as some are known to not be that great (Valley of Hope) GOOD LUCK!

Racism

2009-07-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

If you've ever thought that racism no longer exists, check out this article HERE. Sickening.

I'd Rather Be Hot Than Cold

2009-07-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've said that many a time. Like when I'm at a Titans football game and I've decided my toes are permanently frozen and will never reach 98.6 again. Or, perhaps, during the "spring" consignment sale where it is typically 12 below zero at midnight when we finally leave. Yes, I've said it..."I'd rather be hot than cold, at least you can cool off, but when you're cold, sometimes you just can't get warm"

Well, my friends, last night I ate those words. You see, around 4pm yesterday, I noticed the house was warm. We are one of those people who keep the thermostat at 72 degrees and don't move it. Jonathan swears he is "freezing" each night to which I promptly tell him it feels great in here and get over it. In our new, old house, the thermostat is one of those where you set the temp for a certain number of days, so I ASSUMED that it needed to be reset which I promptly did.

Jonathan got home around 6pm and noted that it was indeed, well, HOT in our house and began assessing the problem. "It's blowing cold air," he said. I went into our tiny 20 sq. feet master bath and reassured him that it was not blowing cold air. Jonathan, AKA Bob the Builder, assured me that it was fine and that because it had gotten so hot, it would just take a while to cool off. Sure it would.

By 8pm, I noticed that my skin was literally beginning to drip off (that's a joke) so I told him it was time to call someone. Bob called Ed the Builder (my dad) and they determined that indeed, the unit was not even turning on. Next call: our home warranty place. Blah, blah, blah...someone will call you back within 24 hours. Excuse me? 24 hours?

So, last night, we toughed it out and slept peacefully (note sarcasm here) in our 82 degree house. It was, well, warm. I think I determined around 2:12am that I would indeed rather be cold than hot.

Repairman is supposed to be here between 10 and 12. Who wants to make bets on what time he will actually show up?

Encores North Gift Certificate & Fireworks

2009-06-30T17:46:00.001-07:00

If you need fireworks for the 4th of July, I have the perfect spot for you to buy them. You NEED to go to see my friends Tamara and Jesse at their fireworks tent at the corner of Long Hollow Pike and Caldwell Drive in Goodlettsville. Their tent is behind Volunteer State Bank and across from Walgreens and has that adorable banner that says "Buy Fireworks From My Daddy!"

Why do you need to go there?

Well, the most important reason is that Tamara and Jesse are hardworking, have four kids, and after being in Murfreesboro for 5 years, their tent got moved to Goodlettsville where they know no one. They will tell you if the fireworks you are thinking about buying aren't that great and take the time to ask you what you are looking for instead of just getting you to buy the most expensive thing.

The second most important reason is that if you go there and buy at least $25 worth of fireworks and mention you found out about them from me, they will register you for a $50 gift certificate to Encores and More North fall/winter children's consignment sale in August. How cool is that?

So go buy your fireworks from a local family and enter to win for the gift certificate for Encores North! HAPPY FOURTH!

Aaron Ivey : Between The Beauty and the Chaos

2009-06-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

I met this wonderful couple through Alison and what a blessing it has been to watch their journey to adopt two more precious children from Haiti.

Aaron released their newest album June 23rd (my birthday) and on the 24th it was #1 on iTunes Christian category. J bought it today and we are listening to it now and let me tell you, WOW! You have got to buy this album and praise Jesus with Aaron. It is AWESOME! I am loving this and figure I'll have all the songs memorized by tomorrow at this rate!

Overwhelmed

2009-06-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

Yep, I said it. I am overwhelmed. I don't think it's JUST the fact that I have five kids, I think it's the fact that I have five children plus I am trying to get the ball rolling for the consignment sale AND I am still trying to unpack and organize this house.

I keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day, but sometimes I do secretly wish I could snap my fingers and my "to do" list would be DONE.

Anyway, I'm putting this out there to let everyone know that I am not supermom. I do get overwhelmed, I do get stressed and I do want to check out every once in a while. Also, I'm putting my "to do" list out there to hopefully hold me a bit more accountable. I'm looking forward to crossing off the things listed below.

1. ~~Get website updated for consignment sale~~
2. ~~Get flier updated and sent to printer~~
3. ~~Go though all the Encores supplies in the garage and make sure that any people that signed up for the mailing list are added for this mailing (Tracy, you interested in doing that again?)~~
4. ~~Get scrapbooking closet upstairs set up and all scrapbooking items out of the various parts of the house~~
5. Get worker flier updated and send out email about workers to consignment peeps
6. Contact Old Navy and let them know our dates as they are interested in offering an Encores discount at the next sale WOO HOO!
7. ~~Hang up various pics/art throughout house that needs to be hung before it gets stepped on by little feet~~
8. Get curtain rod for master bedroom trimmed down to fit window and hang bedroom curtains
9. Pick up paint and painting supplies for downstairs
10. Write thank you notes
11. Finish Alison's thank you notes before Char turns 12.
12. ~~Take the HUGE load of items in the garage to the Good Samaritan Center in Hendersonville~~ THANKS ALI!
13. Hang all of Anna's fall/winter clothes for consignment
14. Deliver hangers, pins and paper to VIP taggers.

I think that's it for now (at least the really important stuff). Trying not to get overwhelmed and hoping to knock at least 2 items off my list today!

WOW

2009-06-24T15:52:00.001-07:00

That's all I can say about THIS. I haven't laughed that hard IN A WHILE!

P.S. The above link goes to one of my new favorite blogs. Be sure to check out her more current posts. I snort with laughter every time I get on this blog!

Purging: Let's Talk Toys

2009-06-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am almost finished with the upstairs of the house. I am very pleased that everything is fitting perfectly (well, almost everything) even though we downsized almost 900 sq. feet.

Downstairs in the finished basement which is a whole 'nother story. In this area we have a den with a fireplace, the twins bedroom, and what will eventually be Joshua's bedroom. Right now M.E. is sleeping there because she is such a great sleeper and I don't worry with her being on another floor.

Here's my dilemma. In the old house, we not only had toys in the kids' rooms, but we were also fortunate to have a bonus room that housed the craft table and ALL the craft supplies and then a toy room that housed, well, toys. In this house, the only common area where I don't mind toys is the downstairs den and I am completely OVERWHELMED with the sheer volume of toys that are currently stuffed in that room. The bedrooms are just not large enough to house toys and there's not a toy room. My "vision" for the downstairs den is to have their craft table with their craft supplies, a bookcase that houses all their books (my kids LOVE to read and have hundreds of books), and then put a sofa and a tv with the Wii hookup down there (upstairs living room is not big enough to play Wii). The problem? Mounds and mounds of toys. Some of them they play with, some they don't.

What I have found is that my kids play with toys in cycles. Legos in the winter when they are stuck inside, Anna may play with her American Girl dolls once in a blue moon although she BEGGED me for them. Probably the most played toys in our house is the McDonald's drive thru kitchen and the Rose Petal Cottage.

So, should I just get rid of all these extra toys? Am I a bad mom if my kids literally have hardly any toys? What's a realistic amount of toys for a kid to have?

I guess I just want a space where everything has it's place and the amount of crap in that room, well, just doesn't make that a possibility. I feel like the less they have, the more they appreciate what they do have and they actually enjoy those toys. I tend to pick up most of the toys at either consignment or at yard sales, so I don't have large amounts of money into any of these toys, but I do hate to sell something that they might want me to potentially replace. Anxious for feedback and wondering if anyone else struggles with the amount of stuff our kids have?

Having Five Kids...

2009-06-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

wow, I could finish that sentence in so many ways.

I know I've been absent in my blogging but we've had a wee bit going on. Tomorrow it will be 6 weeks since J.T. was born. 6 weeks. It seems like 6 days tops. Since he was born, I spent 9 days in Houston, one week packing our house for our impending move, two weeks waiting for the people who were buying our house to get their crap together so they could close, now 6 days unpacking, and I'm tired.

I have decided that having three older kids is much harder than having two little kids. I have decided that I hear "momma" at least 754 times a day. I have decided that I am going to stop feeling bad that I get giddy (literally) when 5pm rolls around as I know J will be home soon. I have decided that house work, hot showers, and being "on top of things" is a thing of the past. I'll get it done when I get it done and honestly, no one will probably know the difference.

I have not had a migraine in over two weeks! I absolutely LOVE having five children and the fact that all their differences blend into a beautiful mixture of craziness that is my life.

Joshua started smiling last Tuesday, June 9th, and has completely transformed into a completely hysterical guy. He loves for me to say "talk to me" and he will literally carry on a conversation which consists of different pitches of cooing and smiling. He is fascinated with this tongue and hands, which he just realized are at the end of his arms. I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing the older kids with him. Isaac and Luke are completely smitten, especially Isaac. They will sit and hold him for what seems like hours and whisper things like "hey there boy", fearing that someone will hear them. Mary Elizabeth thinks that every time he cries it's because he wants her to kiss him. Seriously. At the first wimper, she puckers up and kisses him. We call her the kissing monster. It's hysterical.

Anna leaves for middle school church camp Friday morning for 5 nights, 6 days! Yes, I said middle school camp. It seriously doesn't seem possible that I have a middle schooler. She thinks she is so freaking cool which makes me want to vomit and I recognize so much of myself at her age in her, which also completely freaks me out.

We LOVE our new house. I know I've said it before, but I swear this place is different. I feel so "suzy homemaker" here. I have a newfound love of home cooking and I love leaning out the back door and calling the kids in for supper. We have about an acre and at least 50 mature trees (the house is 37 years old) so the kids are having a blast exploring and pretending in our yard. I don't miss our big, new, fancy house. Don't get me wrong, it was great. But this feels like home. It reminds me of my grandparents house growing up. Nothing fancy, but a wonderful sense of being home.

That's our update. I'll try to update more as I can, especially once this house is unpacked. My OCD/ADD which I like to call ODD is really kicking in here and I find that I can't start on a new box until the last one is completely unpacked and in the right place. Oh, and because I start 30 new projects at once, it takes...a while...to unpack a box. It's coming together though and the most important rooms (kitchen, baths, etc) are complete.

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer!

The Kids Clothes Basket - HUGE Sale

2009-06-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

I love end of the season clearance at stores. I typically try to buy ahead for each of my kids because I hate paying full retail and no one but me knows it's last seasons clothing.

Well, one of my favorite places to shop, The Kids Clothes Basket, is having a major end of the season blow-out sale this weekend. Starting tomorrow, almost all of the spring/summer inventory will be 50% off the lowest marked price. Friday, it goes up to 60% off and Saturday, it's 75% off! She also has a HUGE selection of smocked dresses and outfits for $15 each during this sale.

It's hard to believe that fall/winter clothing is already coming in, but it is, so be sure to check out Julie's store this weekend for major markdowns. She also has just gotten in more boy's outfits and pieces so for all of you momma's of boys, she is trying to fill that need too!

Please go shop and let her know you saw info about the sale here! ENJOY!

A few pet peeves

2009-06-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I've been keeping this list in my wallet and when it randomly drops out, I laugh out loud. Yes, this is truly my list of things that DRIVE ME INSANE. Hope you enjoy!

1. When the person in front of you at the drive thru orders and then pulls up about 2 feet. Keep in mind there is 2 car lengths between said car and the car in front of it, but they only pull up enough to keep you from getting up there to order and they just SIT THERE. They might take a phone call, send a text, pick a booger, whatever...but they are not moving up. Then, suddenly, they realize that you could park a barge between them and the car in front of them and they pull up. Never realizing that you have been sitting there for five minutes waiting to order.

2. Businesses that add a "z" to the end of their name. Like "Floorz" or "Tanz R Us" No need to worry, you won't see Encorez and More North anytime soon!

3. When I am trying to catch an elevator because I have a stroller and the line is 8 miles long because all the lazy people don't want to take the stairs.

4. When I am walking towards a door with a stroller and the person in front of me looks back at me, notices me with my stroller and proceeds to let the door slam in front of me.

Yeah, that's all for now. I'm sure I'll be back later to add more!

Pics of My Babies

2009-06-01T09:33:00.001-07:00

Pics by Alison Bynum
Mary Elizabeth
Joshua: 2 weeks, 1 day old

A Day in My Life

2009-06-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

I've had many of you ask "how's it going?" or "hey, momma of 5 kids!" or my most favorite is "when are you going to adopt your next one?" I thought I would take a few minutes to answer some of those questions.

First: "How's it going?" Honestly, pretty well. I am completely tired ALL THE TIME and look like CRAP ALL THE TIME, but it has been a much smoother transition from 4 to 5 kids than I imagined it would be. Mary Elizabeth has done VERY well with her brother, honestly all she does is want to hold him and give him kisses when he's crying, which turn out to be french kisses and she has now given him a cold. I honestly think I could say it's been perfect had we not been in the middle of moving and our closing fell apart last Friday, so now we are playing this wonderful waiting game while our entire house is in boxes.

Second: "Hey, momma of 5 kids!" Yep, I am. And some days it feels like I have a real live herd behind me. Especially when the older kids are acting like they are 3 years old and arguing. Had I been in control, I wouldn't advise bringing home a new baby literally 5 days before your oldest children get out of school for the summer. The older kids have been crazy nuts. It's like they are afraid that someone is going to make them go back to school early so let's pack as much into a day as possible. One minute they are in full bike riding gear cruising up and down the road, the next minute they are wearing swim trunks and goggles and begging me to go swimming.

Third: "When are you bringing home the next one?" Seriously, we JUST got home. He's not even four weeks old. I have figured out that the more kids you have, the faster people ask. I'm sure the octomom was getting asked like 2 seconds after delivery. To answer your question...I think we are done unless God has other plans. Jonathan and I both have a heart for Ethiopia, but unless God lays out a clear path for us to bring more children home from Africa, I think Party of 7 sounds kind of nice. Plus, I do look forward to retiring at some point and just being J and I again, and if we keep having children, when will that ever happen. It hit me a few days ago that when Anna graduates high school, we will still have a 7 year old. Nuts, I know. Plus, if you have checked out the costs of college and weddings lately, let's just say 5 is a nice number for us.

What's next for the blog? Well, I plan to chronicle the nutjobs that have lovely comments to make to me about our diverse family. The consignment sale is starting soon so I'm sure I'll have lots of good stories there. And I'm sure I'll find a few more tales to spin for you guys!

Jon and Kate Plus 8

2009-05-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've thought about writing this post for a while, but I wanted to take some time and pray about it before I did.

First, I hope that you will watch this short video before reading further or leaving a comment. It is an interview with Kate's brother and his wife who have been a part of the show up until a year ago.
Watch CBS Videos Online

I started watching this show when it first started. I found it fascinating simply because I am a mom of multiples and I also was intrigued by how tight of a ship she ran, all while promoting a healthier way of living by eating organic foods, etc.

I have now committed to stop watching this show (including reruns) and I will not contribute to their empire by buying their books, etc. I am and have been very troubled about the exploitation of their children as I have noticed more and more shows being filmed each season. I, for a while, have also said that I don't like the way that Kate treats Jon on the show and I feel like if the roles were reversed and if Jon spoke to her the way she speaks to him, the show would have been canceled long ago.

I am typing this because I am asking you to commit to pray for this family. I am also asking you to please stop watching it. Did you know they had almost 10 million viewers on Monday night for the season premiere? That's a record for cable tv and although I am admitting I was one of them, I am also admitting that I am ashamed that I was. I am seriously concerned about their marriage, their children, and the effects of this show on these children as they grow up. I hope you will join me!

Waterpark in the backyard

2009-05-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

The wonderful couple (that I still haven't blogged about) bought this awesome blow up waterpark while we were visiting in Houston. They have three kids (10, 5, and 3) who had an absolute blast playing and we were amazed at just how cool this sucker was. Now, I'm tempted to buy one.

We just bought a LARGER Rainbow swing set that is a monster, so I guess I am a little worried that our entire backyard will be nothing but toys, but then the other part of me thinks "how cool is that?"

I guess I am also thinking that we could use the money we would have spent on M.E.'s birthday party/gift and do a water themed party for her second birthday in August. Heck, for that reason, we could use all the money for each of the kids birthdays and buy this sucker and actually get something that they *might* remember for more than a millisecond.

So, if you have one of these Banzai monsters currently parked in your backyard OR are thinking about buying one, leave me a comment and let me know if you love it/hate it/want it/etc. Oh, and if you have one and your water bill went through the freaking roof I would love to know that too!

A week ago today...

2009-05-22T17:45:00.001-07:00

We were on an airplane leaving Houston to come home and see our family. I had been gone for 10 days and oh, how I missed the kids. Here's a pic of us as we saw the kids for the first time.

A week later I am sitting here in bed with Joshua and Mary Elizabeth. The kids are doing wonderful with Joshua. Mary Elizabeth walks through the house and says "Of JT" which translates to "love JT" She likes to give him kisses, pat his back for burps and try to steal his paci. Isaac and Luke are totally in love and so glad we have a boy. They have actually both already fed him and hold him constantly. Anna is also madly in love with Joshua. She loves to take care of him and already thinks of him as her newest real live baby doll.

Jonathan and I are doing great, totally exhausted, but great. As I told one of my dear friends today, I am trying to set small goals for each day so I don't get overwhelmed and in turn, beat myself up for not getting a whole lot done. I'm trying to rest when the little ones are resting so if I don't answer the phone, please don't take it personally. Leave me a message, I promise I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Joshua is a hoss. Eating like crazy and sleeping a lot. He's already in size 2 diapers. Alison B. was here today and got some beautiful shots of J.T. so I am excited to see those and share those with you. We had a little hair party today. Jamie (M.E.'s hair goddess) came to the house and did Norah, Charlotte and Jordyn's hair today. Their hair looked beautiful and I enjoyed getting to hang out with my friends. Angie V. and Lisa H. also stopped by to visit.

I am off to eat a wonderful dinner prepared by Melissa, Jordyn and Isaiah's mom. THANK YOU Melissa for all the wonderful food you brought today. I'll try to update more often this next week!

Sweet Joshua

2009-05-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Joshua is doing great, eating like a mad man and growing like a weed. We went to the doctor today and he has gained a full pound in just 13 days! He's officially 9 lbs. Doctor said he looks great and we agree...he is such a happy little guy!

Here's a pic from this past Saturday. To see more, check out the post here. A big THANKS to Uncle Josh for taking some pics for us.

And the winner of the Veranda gift certificate is....

2009-05-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

K.N. (email me and I will mail the certificate to you!)

We actually went to the Veranda for lunch yesterday. It was our first official outing as a Party of 7 and we had a fantastic lunch! THANKS to the Veranda crew for taking such good care of us on our first day back home!

MIRACLE HAPPENED...We're Home!

2009-05-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, D (our case worker here in Nashville) called at 9am to tell us that TN ICPC had not even received our paperwork yet. To say we were bummed was an understatement. I had spent a lot of time Thursday night in prayer, letting HIM know that I would be ok if we couldn't come home. That I would not allow Satan to steal our joy if we didn't get that approval. That I would continue PRAISING HIM!

Around noon, I drug myself into a nice, hot bath. As I sat there, tears streamed down my face as I literally clung to Jeremiah 29:11. God knew what this process would look like to bring Joshua home, I just needed to trust him.

I came downstairs to face J, who was watching Joshua and asked if he minded running to the store. We were almost out of wipes and he was taking the rental car back at 5pm as he went to the airport. Our host family continued to let me know that I was not being an inconvenience and that no car was needed. They would happily take me to the airport whenever I needed to go. I will do a post later about this family, they are AMAZING.

J headed to the store and to Whataburger for lunch. If he's leaving, we gotta eat there right? Around 2pm, he called me and when I answered the phone and he was crying. "Great, he's wrecked the rental car!" is all I could think. He choked out that we had just gotten verbal approval to come home from ICPC in TN. I immediately started crying and Angel started saying "OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" We were totally praising God right there in her living room! I texted Joy who let me know she had not heard from TX ICPC yet, but we were probably safe to make travel plans.

What proceeded was literally the most stressful three hours of my life, literally. We now know that TX ICPC decided to close early yesterday, so even though we were technically cleared to go home, there was no one in the office to call and verify that with Joy. Finally at 5ish, D was able to call Joy and let her know she had gotten verbal and the fax had been sent and we got clearance to go. We were on a plane by 7:40pm.

So, yes, our paperwork got to TN at 10am via Fed Ex and we were approved by 2pm. If that's not a miracle, I'm not sure what is. You see, the paperwork that TN combed through was over 3" thick.

Joshua did great on the flight home. Only a handful of people even realized we had a baby on the plane. A sweet couple sat behind us and even came over to say goodbye at baggage claim where they got to meet our entire family.

Walked down to baggage claim and seeing our families there was AWESOME! I, of course, cried. Anna bawled like a baby. JuJu, Papa Eddie, Grandmother, Papa Sam, Angie, Robert, Alexandra, Abby and all of our kids were there to great us. It was late (almost 9:50pm when our flight got in), but M.E. was so happy to have us home and just kept saying "Baby! Baby? Baby! Baby?" She passed out happily in the car on the ride home.

We got home and everyone took pics and then the grandparents went home. I fixed Anna, Isaac and Luke popcorn, got bags unpacked with J and we got Joshua settled in his bassinet. Overall, he did awesome last night considering things were stressful yesterday and his schedule got mixed up a bit. As I type, he is laying there with the hiccups.

We are SO thankful to be home. Visitors are more than welcome, just please call first if you are coming and make sure you aren't sick or that your kiddos aren't sick. Tonight I plan to upload more pics, draw a winner for the Veranda drawing (feel free to enter til 5pm today), and do a post on our host family and their non-profit which I'm sure many of you in blogland are familiar with. THANKS to all who have prayed for us during this journey, supported us financially, and kept up with us. It's a new, exciting chapter for us and we can't wait to spend our first full day at home wtih ALL of our kids. A big thanks to our families who literally kept our household right on track while we were gone. I even came home to find my tupperware shelf organized so I know JuJu stayed busy while we were gone! Love you guys!

We're Coming Home

2009-05-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is Laura, a friend of Brea's. I just got off the phone with her and they are on there way home. Jonathan, JT and her are about to board a plane and will be in Nashville tonight at 9:15. Praise God! He is truly a God of miracles. YEA!!!!

ICPC Prayers Needed

2009-05-14T13:52:00.001-07:00

So, when you adopt from a state other than where you live, you have to deal with a little thing called ICPC. It basically stands for "making you wait in another state for a long time" Technically speaking, it's where the state you adopted from gives you permission to leave the state with an adopted child and the state you live in gives you permission to re-enter with the adopted child. It involves a bunch of paperwork from your homestudy being sent from state to state via Fed Ex.

Why do we need prayers? Well, first our paperwork went to Austin, TX for TX approval. Then, it leaves from Austin to Nashville and TN approves it. Once Nashville approves it, they give a verbal approval and we can leave. Wouldn't you know the day our paperwork arrives in Austin that one of the TWO people in the whole state is on vacation. So, now we wait. We don't know if it really backed us up or not as there is no system in tracking our paperwork. We could still be given permission to leave tomorrow but basically as our caseworker said, "it would take a miracle". Well, guess what...we believe in those!

Regardless of approval or not, J is leaving to come home tomorrow night. We are DYING to see our other children and although they have been taken care of wonderfully, I know they are dying to see us too. If we don't get approval, it means that J will be flying home without J.T. and I and we won't get to come home until Monday.

So, please join us in praying for that miracle. We want to come home TOMORROW! We know that all things are according to his will and we are so being taken care of here in Houston, so you won't hear me complain if we don't get that approval, but oh, how I want to come home. I want my other children to meet their new little brother, I want to be able to sleep in my own bed and soak in my own tub. I want to give our host family a nice weekend without us before they have more guests arriving Tuesday. I realize I want all these things and in reality, I want what God wants for us, but selfishly can we please come home?

THANK YOU for your prayers. We'll keep you posted!

Day Three Recap

2009-05-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

We wake up Saturday morning and J is full of nerves. I've had the luxury of spending 2 days with birthmom and Joshua while J is not only getting ready to walk into a room and meet birthmom, he is also getting ready to meet his son. We shower and get ready and J goes next door to IHOP to get breakfast for birthmom. After we eat the continental breakfast at the hotel (I wolfed it down, J barely touched his), we checked out and headed for the hospital.

We arrived around 8:30am and I went in first to make sure it was ok for J to come in. Birthmom was nervous to meet him too. J came in and introduced himself and we all spent a few minutes talking. I excused myself to go get birthmom something to drink and by the time I got back, she and J were comfortably talking. He got to hold Joshua for the first time and I snapped a few pics.

The whole time we were in the room that morning (around an hour), I had this feeling of a rock in my stomach as I knew what was coming that afternoon. She would be signing and handing over this little guy.

You see, with M.E., we never met her mom. In some ways, it made the adoption easier as I didn't have a birthmom to fall in love with. With J.T.'s birthmom, I now love her. I can see she is a wonderful mother to her other child AND to Joshua. I can see the love she has for Joshua in her eyes. I almost feel like a thief in the night as I know under different circumstances, she should be leaving the hospital that day with her baby. But the circumstances aren't different and I have to swallow the difficult pill that she wants us instead.

For the last two days, she has kept Joshua in her room with her THE WHOLE TIME. For some adoptive parents, this might intimidate them. I am glad. This is her time. I want her to take every last second to make sure she is doing the right thing. Yes, it has made it hard for me to bond with the baby, but I have decided that it's not my right to bond with the baby at this time, it's his mom's time. I'll have the next 18 years. Every time I go in, I ask her permission to pick him up, feed him. I'm sitting here trying to remember if I even changed a diaper and I don't think I did. She did a wonderful job with him in the hospital.

J and I leave the room around 9:30. We have realized we forgot socks for Joshua and we also need to buy formula, diapers, wipes, etc. We also decide to go get birthmom lunch as the hospital food sucks. We go to Walmart first and Joy, caseworker, calls. She is going to be tied up and won't be at the hospital until early afternoon. No problem, we are planning to be back at 12:30pm. We buy all the essentials, pick up KFC for lunch, head to CVS to pick up pics that Alison has sent down for birthmom, and head back to the hospital.

When we get back, we all eat and again, J and I spend about an hour in the room. We then would come out and sit and read in the lobby. About 3pm, we go back in and birthmom asks us to stay with her until it's time to be discharged. Around 5pm, we headed down to the cafeteria to get dinner for the three of us and when we get back, Joy has arrived. J and I sit in the lobby and eat while Joy talks with birthmom. Legally, she can now sign. Joy comes out of her room and meets J for the first time. She walks us through what is about to happen. Baby will be discharged first and we can leave. Then, they will discharge birthmom and Joy will take her home and get her settled.

Birthmom is insistant that we do placement in her hospital room. I think I started crying the minute I walked in that room. She looked so beautiful sitting in that chair holding Joshua. I know it sounds crazy, but I was filled with so many strange emotions, but mainly the feeling that life isn't fair. In a perfect world, I kept thinking to myself. But our world isn't perfect and I have to swallow the fact that she chose us. I KNOW no one forced her to make this decision. I was even able to ask her several times if she was sure she wanted to do this. Had she really thought about parenting? Because it's Joshua's story, I won't share the reasonings, but I can tell you that I felt like I caught of glimpse of what God felt like letting go of his son. I couldn't stop crying as the nurse went through the discharge paperwork. She would tell birthmom the information and then realize she needed to tell me, which was so weird. Finally it was time to say goodbye. I was crying so hard I couldn't catch my breath, which led to these horrible gasping sounds, but I didn't care. What was supposed to be a wonderful, joyous day was so heartbreaking for birthmom and for me. She kissed him goodbye and told us to take care of him and then handed him to me. I wrapped him in a blanket, and then turned and just hugged her. Told her how much I love her and how we promise to stay in touch and take good care of him. That's when I realized J was sobbing as well. I'm not sure what he said to her as he engulfed her in his arms, but Joy later told me it truly touched her to see how much we loved her.

We gathered Joshua's things, promised to see birthmom Wednesday, hugged Joy and walked out of the room. I was hanging on to Joshua for dear life as I sobbed. All the nurses looked up at us as the discharge nurse walked us out. They all were crying too. Shade, our discharge nurse, hugged us and talked to Joshua. Told him that he would make a difference, that he was to do great things in his life and that so many loved him. Those nurses saw a different side of adoption that day and for that, I am so thankful.

Then we left. Just walked out of the hospital. Buckled him in and drove off. I cried so hard I think Jonathan was worried I had checked out. I sobbed. I'm sobbing now as I write this. I called my mom and dad and cried to them. They cried. Joshua slept the whole time. Little guy had no idea that his life had just changed and I had just promised his mom that I would do my best to make sure he grows into a strong, black man.

We drove to J's friends house and although I had never met them, they welcomed us like old friends. I'm sure I looked like someone had punched me in the face (not a pretty crier), but they didn't seem to mind. We sat around and talked until 11:30pm and then turned into bed.

I wish I had some wise words to sum up this day, but I don't. It is what it is. In a perfect world, babies could stay with their moms. I write this so others can see what adoption is truly like. It is hard, sad, wonderful and happy all at the same time.

Day Two Recap

2009-05-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, for some reason, blogger decided to erase my two entries I had made to keep things in order on here. I'm sure as soon as I finish retyping, they will magically reappear. Isn't that how it always happens?

I am backing up to go through my second day at the hospital with you. Alison B. and I arrived at the hospital around 8:30am. I immediately went to birthmom's room to check on her. We had a great time talking and then Alison came in and took tons of awesome pics of her and Joshua together, the pics of Joshua you have seen on here and a few of me with Joshua and birthmom.

We left around 10:30am to go run some errands and pick up lunch for birthmom. She was really hungry and the hospital food sucked so we decided to get her favorite food, chinese. We headed down to the First Colony mall in Sugarland, TX. This is a really nice area of Houston and Alison and I checked out the mall for a few minutes. Then, we headed to a local florist so I could get some fresh flowers for the birthmom. After that, we did a Sonic run and picked up the Chinese food. Then, it was back to the hospital.

While we were gone, the birthmom's family came to visit but we got stuck in traffic so we missed them. We got back and while birthmom ate, Alison went to the cafeteria and got us lunch. Joy (caseworker) was great about guiding me with what to do. She suggested I only spend about an hour at a time in the room so that neither of us got overwhelmed and no one got to the point of being uncomfortable. I should tell you that the conversation with the birthmom just flowed. She is a LOVELY woman and I know we will be lifelong friends.

I visited with birthmom again until about 4:30pm. She was exhausted and both Joy and I encouraged her to get some rest. J's flight wasn't getting in until 7:40pm and by the time we could get back to the hospital, it would have been close to the end of visiting hours so we made plans to be there first thing Saturday morning so she could meet J. We also wanted to bring her breakfast from IHOP, one of her favorite places to eat.

I left the hospital with Alison and took her to Bush airport. I was so sad to see her go. I don't know how I would have done the previous two days without her. For anyone adopting out of state, I encourage you to go with someone, even if your spouse can't go right away. We told stories, laughed, people watched...having her here made the time fly by and it was great to decompress each day with someone who gets it (Alison is an adoptive momma to two girls).

I left Bush and immediately drove to the other airport, Hobby, to pick up Jonathan. He and his luggage arrived with no issues and before we knew it, we were back on the Stafford side of town checking into our hotel. We walked next door to THE LARGEST Chinese buffet I have ever seen. Seriously, I took pics. If I wasn't so exhausted right now, I would post them, but I will do that later on. It was so big, we called Uncle Josh who loves to eat and explained it to him in detail. Seriously, five LONG lanes of sushi, everything Chinese, salad bar and dessert. AND it was really good. What made it even better was that my wonderful husband was finally here with me.

We headed back to our hotel and were in bed in no time. We were both EXHAUSTED. I was so tired because I think the emotions of everything were wearing me out. He was so tired because he had worked all day, caught a flight, and he was a nervous wreck about meeting birthmom and Joshua the next morning.

So that's the Day Two recap. I'll post Day Three later on.

Our First Night with J.T.

2009-05-10T07:31:00.001-07:00

Last night was our first night outside of a hospital with J.T. We arrived at J's friends' house (who are awesome people, more on that later), got our bags in the house and fed him. This was about 7:30pm. By 8:30pm, he was hungry again but we were able to hold him off til 11:30pm where he took a full 2 oz. bottle (did I mention he's going to be the size of M.E. in no time?) Also, around 9ish, he took a gigantic crap and peed all over me so I am now officially christened with that. I had the worst headache from crying, so I crashed and then woke up to feed him at 2:30am. I changed his butt, gave him a 2 oz. bottle and he went right back to sleep. Love this kid. J took him at 6am for a 2 oz. bottle, butt change, and burp and then he went right back to sleep where he is still currently sleeping as I type this.

I should note we have never let our infants sleep with us in bed, but it really wasn't an option and I think we all slept better because of it. J and I are both very pleased with how the night went and are excited that we have such awesome hostesses that we are able to just lay in bed this morning and chill.

I have saved titles to two posts that I will be uploading hopefully later today. They are Day 2 and Day 3 recaps, but I just don't have the energy to type it all up right now. When I post them, they will precede this one, so definitely check back if you want all the goods.

Now, we stay in Texas and we wait for ICPC clearance. Basically that's both TN and TX deciding when we can leave and re-enter our home state with a child we adopted. PRAY this goes quickly. We already have plans to visit with birthmom on Wednesday, so we are excited about that. We miss the kids at home desperately, but they made me the sweetest mother's day cards that I absolutely LOVE so that made today a little more bearable. I'm signing off to go back to sleep. I shouldn't be surprised that the emotions of yesterday have made me exhausted, but yet, I hate that I am so tired. More updates later!

Pictures of J.T.

2009-05-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Pictures by Alison Bynum

He has a name...

2009-05-08T20:18:00.001-07:00

and it's Joshua Tucker. Birthmom picked out his first name (which we love) and his middle name is my great grandpa's name. He looks like a Joshua. I can't wait to show you his picture (hopefully tomorrow, have to wait until TPR is signed). The older kids are already calling him J.T. and I'm sure I'll refer to him as that on here. We were thinking his name would either be Benjamin or Myles, so everyone was pretty shocked with Joshua, but we all love it. We especially love it as Uncle Josh (Aunt Ali's husband) is very special to us and J.T. is very laid back and happy just like Uncle Josh.

I'm going to keep this update short and sweet as honestly, I am EXHAUSTED. Alison got home safely, J just got in, we ate a bite at the largest buffet I have ever seen (more on that later and yes, I did take pics), and we are ready to sleep. Pretty sad that we are in a hotel with no kids and all we want to do is sleep! HA!

Looks like J.T. and birthmom will be released tomorrow so TONIGHT will be our last night of good sleep. He is such a good baby, seriously. Very laid back, very alert and just checking us out. Birthmom and I have decided he is VERY blessed to have two mommas that love him so much. J will meet him and birthmom for the first time tomorrow morning around 8:30am. They are so excited to meet each other and he can't wait to get his hands on Joshua.

I will do a more detailed post about today later on, but in the meantime, say a prayer for all involved tomorrow. Tomorrow birthmom will sign the TPR (termination of parental rights) and be leaving the hospital without her baby. I. CAN'T. IMAGINE. what she will be going through. She is a wonderful woman and God totally put us all together. We are already making plans to visit her in September. Yes, this will be an open adoption. We are so excited to have contact with her and her daughter and I think this will be very healthy for Joshua.

God has given us so many little silly things that tell us we are where he wants us to be......the hotel we are staying at tonight has the same name as the street we live on at home. How cool is that?

I'll try to update tomorrow night, but please be patient with me. We will be "moving in" with some friends of J's so I'm not sure what time I will be getting on to update with pics and more posts. THANK YOU for your prayers, messages, phone calls, etc. If I don't answer, please don't take offense. I barely spoke to my own husband today. When I am at the hospital, I am with birthmom and baby.

I miss Anna, Isaac, Luke, and M.E. like crazy but they seem to be doing well. We have an amazing family that has jumped right in to take care of everything. We can't wait to get back to TN but are thankful that everyone here has been so great. More tomorrow!

Silly Little Things

2009-05-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

1. Slept awesome last night. So good.

2. I know that it's called a shuttle not a shuffle. A shuffle is what my taxi driver called it when I got to Houston so that's why I keep calling it a shuffle. I've now had several people let me know they are concerned that I think it's called a shuffle. Rest assured, I did learn something on that Greenbrier education.

3. Got to talk to the kids this morning. We are pretty close to coming together on a name so hopefully I'll have that posted tonight.

4. Say a prayer for safe travels today. Alison flies out around 6pm and J flies in around 7pm. We are really looking forward to staying and visiting with lots of new and old friends while in Houston so I'm excited to see what the next few days hold.

5. We found out last night we are 45 minutes from a beach. We will definitely be going there at some point in this trip. Nothing more relaxing than the ocean.

6. Houston is not my favorite city. It is however, a HUGE city. It's kind of yucky and crowded and it is HOT. Driving to get Alison yesterday at the airport, all I kept seeing was Jack in the Boxes and adult bookstores. UGH. I'm hopeful that the outskirts of the city are nicer than what I have seen inside so far. That, or maybe I'm just in the wrong end of town.

7. Alison and I have already successfully located a mall with a Gymboree, Janie and Jack and Baby Gap. Good times are in our future today!

He's Here and He's SO Cute!

2009-05-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Again, I say "what a day!" and "God is in control!"

I slept like crap last night. Woke up several times throughout the night and if you facebook, you noticed I was up watching TLC at 5am. It's not that the room was bad, I just didn't feel safe in the part of town I was in AND I'm sure nerves had a huge part in the non-sleeping.

Alison B. called at 6am to inform me she was worried about me and considering flying down to be with me. At 7am, Angie V. called to inform me she was also worried about me and considering flying down. I begged them both not to come, but Alison came anyway. At first I felt guilty, but when I saw her face at the airport at 1pm, I realized how glad I was to have someone here.

I checked out of the hotel around 11:30am with the intent of going to rent a car. The front desk lady informed me there were NO CARS at the airport as there was some convention with 120,000 people in town. Great. She took me to the airport in the shuffle and I literally got one of two cars left at Houston Hobby airport. PRAISE GOD! Now granted, I spent more on the car than I did my hotel last night, but hey, I have a car.

I left the rental car place and headed straight to the other airport to pick up AliB and then we jetted to the hospital. We stopped on the way and got some Taco Bell, which I might add was awesome (TX does Taco Bell better than TN) We got to the hospital and I was calm. Totally God. Alison got busy snapping pics including a great one of me applying some deodorant in the waiting room (hey, I was not about to meet this little guy stinking ok!)

After we had been in the waiting room, Joy (caseworker) came in and introduced herself. She was EXACTLY what I had pictured. So loving and warm and just made you feel comfortable. She told Alison and I the game plan and I immediately went with her to meet e-mom. I still wasn't that nervous, just excited. We walked in the room and let me tell you, e-mom is beautiful. Seriously. Gorgeous. We had such a sweet time in the room, talked about our kids, talked about nerves, we cried together, oh it was sweet. Crying right now just thinking about it. It was so awesome!

I came back out and sat with Alison in the waiting area. I worked a crossword puzzle, we told stories, people watched, laughed and the time went by so quickly. We knew at this point that the c-section was pushed back until 3:30pm. Joy came out and let us know things were beginning to start around 3:40pm. A little bit later a nurse came and asked for me and let me know that I would be getting the fourth bracelet which would allow me to visit Little Man just like his mom. She walked me through what would happen and I was so impressed that they thought to include me. She also let us know that the doctor was running late. Finally around 5ish, another nurse came in and asked for me. She looked at me and Alison and asked us to grab all of our stuff. She had a very serious look on her face and I just knew something was wrong. I cautiously said, "is everything ok?" and she perked right up and told me everything was great. She led me down a hall to our own birthing suite and let us know that the hospital wanted me to have a private room to visit with little man. A few minutes later, she brought little guy in. And they kicked Alison out :(

I sat in a rocking chair and held little man. Oh, he is so beautiful. A head full of hair, beautiful dark complexion, his mommy's eyes and nose (did I mention she is beautiful!) I told him how much J and I love him, how we promise to take care of him and keep him in touch with his mom, how I hate that he can't be with her. How excited all his brothers and sisters are to meet him. It was wonderful and horrible at the same time. I hate that this sweet woman can't raise her precious little man. I feel so unworthy. I also felt so blessed to be there.

After I spent some time with him, it was time to go visit e-mom with him. It was so surreal to walk in the recovery room holding her son. She looked amazing to have just had surgery and so happy to see me with him. So unselfish. I held him up for her to see him again and laid him on her chest. It was beautiful. She asked me if we had thought about names. I told her J and I wished to honor her by allowing her to help in naming him. We are going to talk more about it tomorrow.

The nurses then asked me to walk little man to the nursery which I did with Joy and the nurse. Come to find out, the nurse was an adoptive mom herself! We walked in the nursery and they said it was fine for me to stay with him. I snapped some pics and they measured him, took blood, etc. He weighs exactly 8 lbs and is 20 1/2" long. All the nurses were talking about how beautiful he is! It was a sweet time visiting with him and he was so alert...eyes wide open and so chill. M.E., I think your brother is going to be laid back like you!

After a while, Alison and I went back to the private room and I called J and my mom. Alison did a great job updating facebook and texting J during all the madness. Joy came in and we had a great time talking and making plans for the next few days.

We left the hospital, checked into the Crown Plaza which is SO nice and went next door to eat one of the best steaks I have ever had! Dinner was super yummy and I felt myself just relax while we sat there and enjoyed dinner. We are now back at the C.P. and listening to praise music and I'm in tears typing this.

I couldn't have asked for a better experience so far. Joy is awesome. The hospital staff has been very adoption friendly and birthmom is doing really well. She seems very confident in her decision and we are already making plans to visit her in September when we come to visit friends in Houston over Labor Day. Come to find out, our daughters are 4 days apart so M.E. is going to have a buddy to play with!

I can't post pics yet, but I'll do it as soon as she signs TPR on Saturday. J is flying in tomorrow and we have now decided we will be flying home versus driving. We got cold feet about driving 13 hours with a newborn. I am so happy with this decision, but tomorrow will be a busy travel day. Alison is flying out around 5pm and J is getting in around 7pm so it will be hectic. On top of that, it looks like Little Man might get to get released TOMORROW so that's exciting.

THANKS for your prayers. Today could not have been any better and I know God totally had his hand in this situation. I'll update tomorrow with more news...as for now, everyone is healthy and I am off to bed for my last good night's sleep for a LONG time!

I'm Finally Here

2009-05-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a day. This post is probably going to be long and full of sarcasm. I'm going to be detailed in these posts as I want others in the adoption process to see what traveling for a newborn looks like.

My day started at 12:08am. I woke up. Wide AWAKE. Could not go back to sleep. Finally, a little after 4am, I fell asleep. I woke back up at 7am so Isaac could read me his book from school (he forgot the night before) and by 7:30am I could feel the migraine starting. I called Gram who came and picked up M.E (not realizing this would be the last time I would see her). Took my drugs for the headache and thought, "now I can sleep" HA HA HA HA HA HA

Not only did the phone ring about 4 million times, but I got a text saying they are delivering e-mom tomorrow via c-section at 3pm. I started checking flights after lunch only to find that really my options for flights were to leave at 5ish tonight and arrive here at 7ish, leave Nashvegas at 7ish and arrive here after 10ish or fly out first thing in the morning which meant I would have to be at the airport by 6am. After talking to J, we felt like this flight was the best option. I called JuJu to see if she could take me to the airport (remember, we only have one car right now) and she was happy to do it. I quickly finished up packing, got the kids off the bus and we were on our way to the airport by 3:30pm. I wish you could have seen Anna's face when she came in from school and realized I was leaving. She was SO excited, literally shaking all over. I'm very sad she isn't with me this time. She's my sidekick and got to go with us when we adopted M.E.

I got the airport and got through security by 5pm. I didn't pack a ton of stuff as J is planning on driving down in a few days. I stopped and had dinner at the food court and then picked up a magazine and some candy in the gift shop. I've already decided that this week is not going to be a good one for eating healthy. I flew Southwest here and was very pleased with the flight. For those of you that like to read like me, you'll be tickled to know that I swear I sat next to Ranger on the plane. I even giggled a few times expecting him to have "rangeman" embroidered on his shirt.

Arrived to Houston 20 minutes EARLY, how awesome is that! Original game plan was that we planned to stay with friends while in Houston, but since I was coming in late and I feel like I will be at the hospital tomorrow, J went ahead and booked a hotel for me near the airport for tonight. Our goal is to spend as little money as possible, but I can already tell a rental car is in my future as I just found out that I am an hour away from our friends I plan to stay with tomorrow night. I also have no idea where I am in relation to the hospital so somethings going to have to give and I think the rental car is the best option.

I get off the plane and J assures me that the hotel shuttle is waiting for me in 8A. I get to 8A and no shuttle. I call J. He's on the road and says he will call them and call me right back. Guess what? They can't find my reservation that he had made hours early through Expedia; therefore, they won't come pick me up. At this point, I've been standing in 8A for about 20 minutes, it's hot and it's dark and I'm definitely near tears. I finally give up and take a cab to the hotel. I get in the cab and the driver says "oh great, you only go to the Best Western!" I wanted to smack him. "Why you no take the shuffle?" he asks. BECAUSE THEY WON'T PICK ME UP! THE SHUFFLE WON'T PICK ME UP!

We arrive at the hotel I walk in and the front desk lady (who turned out to be a doll) explains that they have no reservation from Expedia. I call J and bless him out and then call Expedia. Sure enough, they admit they FORGOT to let the hotel know about the reservation. After an hour and a big ugly cry (my second in 24 hours), I am now finally in my room. She upgraded me to a suite, but considering I'm at a Best Western, that's not saying much. The bed is comfy and I've got wireless, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

I honestly don't like being here by myself. It's not that I'm scared or any of that crap, I just wish I had J or someone else here with me experiencing this. It honestly doesn't feel real that in less than 24 hours, I will see this little boy. I will meet his mom. Our life will change.

So, it's 9:42pm and I'm laying in bed eating a honeybun and drinking a Dr. Pepper. Did I mention that healthy food is out the window? I guess I will take the shuffle back to the airport in the morning and find a rental car and a map. I hope tomorrow goes a bit better than today. My ugly cry meter is running pretty low, so it isn't taking much and I really don't want to scare the e-mom or anyone at the hospital, so I'm hoping that well dries up tonight. Please say a prayer for me. I'll update tomorrow as soon as I can!

Leaving on a jet plane...

2009-05-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

I am literally walking out the door to get on a plane.

Baby boy is being delivered by c-section tomorrow, May 7, at 3pm. The only decent flight is tonight at 5:30pm. Did I mention that M.E. was born on the 7th and our wedding anniversary is June 7. I love it when dates line up! Makes it easier to remember.

I am taking the laptop so watch for more updates!

Random Acts of Kindness

2009-05-05T20:09:00.001-07:00

Today has been a hard day emotionally. We started out the day being told by the case worker that she was taking the e-mom to the hospital at noon. She is now 41 weeks pregnant and basically, she's done. She's miserable, getting light headed and felt like the baby wasn't moving as much. She told us to standby and as soon as she knew whether the hospital was keeping her, she would let me know if I needed to get on a plane. JuJu came down and helped me pack. We went to lunch at Ruby's (YUM!) and ran some various errands. Came home only to find out that the hospital didn't admit her. They are hoping the doctor will schedule a c-section tomorrow so now we go back to waiting for the phone to ring.

I fixed a mexican meal for dinner tonight, but by the time J came home from work, I was done as well. Emotionally spent. I honestly wanted to crawl in bed and sleep, but no time for that. M.E.'s hair was NASTY which meant that it needed to be taken down (a 30 minute job), washed (a 20 minute job), and conditioned and picked out (a 30 minute job while she screams). Also, the guy came and picked up the van so now we are down to one car with no prospects for a new one. I know we could just go on craigslist and buy one, but I feel like we would be making a rushed decision and I really don't want to do that. I was DONE!

That's when I opened my laptop and found a message from an old friend offering me a ticket to Houston. Yes, you read that right. A plane ticket to Houston. Seriously. I did the BIG UGLY CRY. Sobbed. Hard. What an amazing random act of kindness. It made me think about when the last time I just freely gave something away. I like to think I am a giver, but I'm not sure I'm that good at it. I want someone else to feel the same way I felt when I opened that email.

So, I'll leave you with that. THANK YOU (you know who you are) for challenging me tonight. THANK YOU for being the hands and feet of Christ and blessing me today. I promise I will pay it forward, I promise.

Not Much Of An Update

2009-05-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

It's Monday afternoon, M.E. is napping and I am sort of caught up for a bit so I thought I would take a few minutes to do an update.

The inspection on our house was Friday. I think I had forgotten to mention that we had a "minor" leak in our basement that with the help of an awesome contractor and $685 we thought we had fixed. Well, on Friday morning while they inspected the house during the monsoon (am I spelling that correctly?) it started to leak again. Lovely. Now, I don't know about you, but a leak in a basement would totally freak me out, especially if it started leaking while inspecting the said house that I wished to buy. I was a wreck. I just KNEW they were going to back out of the contract even though we promised to get it fixed. I was doubting that everything God had so perfectly orchestrated the week before was going to fall apart. Friday afternoon came and went, as did the weekend without a word from the buyers. Were they backing out? This morning Ray called to say they were moving forward so that is a total praise. We still have to fix the leak, but I am so glad they trusted us enough to make it right, which we will.

E-mom went to the doctor on Thursday. She is dialated a little and basically left the appointment knowing that unless she decides to schedule another c-section (she has had one prior), we will just wait for labor to start. So we wait. I finally pulled a suitcase down out of the attic and I need to start semi-packing as I know when I get the call, I won't have long to get to the airport and board a plane. I'm really not nervous about the last minute traveling, etc. I am probably more nervous about being there for delivery and making sure that she has her time with the baby. Texas law allows her to sign TPR (termination of parental rights) at 48 hours and then unless she can prove fraud, etc. she can't change her mind. Honestly, this makes me sick. I know what shape I was in 48 hours post delivery and I can't imagine having a clear mind to know what I was signing, especially something that is permanent. If I could tell her anything, I would tell her we support her whether she decides to place with us or parent. I know that some of reading this are probably thinking "yeah right" but we really do. Will it be hard leaving Texas without a baby? Yes. But we know we couldn't live with ourselves if this woman truly wanted to parent and no one ever gave her that option. We are not owed another child, we don't deserve another child...and only if it's God's will do we want another child.

I am also taking the day to do a floor plan of this house for the homestudy which is required by Texas law, but not by Tennessee law. We must draw out a floorplan and include pics and descriptions of each room in the house. This is something I have been meaning to do for a few days, but other things keep jumping ahead. While walking room to room, I realize that we have some serious furniture to sell that won't fit in the new house. New house is 2200 sq. feet but a large portion of that is bedrooms. It has 5 which is awesome. At this point, I think I will just list everything on craigslist as I certainly don't have the time or the energy to have a yard sale and honestly, I think I will get more for it there on craigslist. Right now, I know we are getting rid of the boys bunkbeds, a red desk, the table and chairs in our eat-in area and I'm sure there will be a bit more. In the new house, we will only have a formal dining room so I'm really excited to finally use it as you and I both know it won't be that formal!

That's it for us. Hopefully the next post from me will be that I am getting on a plane!

Sometimes You Just Need A Fork

2009-04-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

I had a doctor's appointment this morning at 10am and in typical Brea fashion, I was running late. I won't mention that the three older kids were at school and M.E. spent the night at Gram's last night. Yes, I was still running late. As I was getting ready to leave, I realized I was hungry so I grabbed some yogurt, a banana and a Sprite. I also reached into the cabinet and grabbed a plastic spoon for my yogurt.

I got in the car and started heading towards the doctor's office. I opened the yogurt and grabbed my spoon, uh fork. Crap, I had grabbed a fork. How am I supposed to eat yogurt with a fork? My mouth was ready for yogurt, so I ripped off the lid and started slopping the yogurt in with a fork. It was not pretty. Man, I needed a spoon.

It made me think about the last few days. I never expected in a million years that all of the things that have happened would happen all at once. Who else could sell a house, sell a car, and adopt a baby in a week's time. I had a plan. In my plan, we would sell the house, the air conditioning wouldn't have gone out in the van, and we would get THE call a few months after we moved. My plan would have been perfect right? Nope, God knew I needed a fork. I needed to be a bit uncomfortable so I would fully rely on him. He wants to stretch us so we will grow and be closer to him. He wants me (and others) to see that HIS way may not seem to fit our plans, but HIS way is perfect and should not be questioned. I'm excited about the next few weeks!

Holy Moly, What A Day!

2009-04-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

Just when I didn't think things could get ANY better, we found out that the owners of the house we love accepted our offer this morning! PRAISE JESUS! It's a cool cat ranch house one street behind us. It has a full finished basement with 5, yes, 5 bedrooms. The best part, we can pay it off in 5 years!!! Debt free before I am 40....how sweet it is!!!!

I again can't put into words the love and prayers we have felt from our family, friends, and strangers in the last 24 hours. The e-mom was supposed to go to the doctor this morning but it got postponed to Thursday so we are just waiting. We are trying to make tentative plans for the kids, but it's kind of hard since we don't know when we are going, etc. We have had some wonderful friends in Houston offer their homes to us so we don't have the expense of a hotel while we are there. Right now, our "tentative" game plan is that I will get on a plane the minute we get the call she is in labor as she does want me there for delivery! Then, Jonathan will drive down so that we have a car while we are there. We will probably be in Houston for about 7 days.

I actually bought a few boy things today. I didn't go crazy, just a few outfits and two blankets. I don't have much boy stuff so this is going to be fun! People keep asking what we need: prayers. We feel them, we need them, and that is the most important thing right now. The rest will fall into place. Oh, and because I'm cheap, if you know anyone that has frequent flyer miles that I could buy cheaper than a last minute ticket, shoot me an email. I HATE to pay full price for anything, but because it will be so last minute, my little trip down is going to cost a pretty penny. Every dime counts at this point.

So, that's the update for the day. Again, thank you doesn't seem like enough, but it's all I've got. GOD IS IN CONTROL!

The Veranda Restaurant - Hendersonville, TN

2009-04-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

I have to take a few minutes to tell you about one of my favorite places to eat. I've mentioned it here on the blog before, but when I was there last week, we got this pic and I thought that I would do a whole post. This pic below is the amazing owner, Terry, and her daughter, Lacey.

The Veranda is located at 149 Bonita Parkway in Hendersonville, TN. For you locals reading this, it's in the back of Patricia Jane, the cute little shop that is located right in front of the old Walmart in Hendersonville. They are open for lunch Tuesday-Saturday from 11ish-2ish I believe.

Why I love them? They are both the sweetest people and Mrs. Terry can COOK! The fruit tea is TO DIE FOR, the grilled pimento cheese is the best thing on the menu, and the daily specials are amazing. Last week, I had a cheesy artichoke soup that was probably the best soup I have ever eaten. On Saturdays, they have quiche. YUM!

A few other things you might not know: Mrs. Terry will open for you if you want to do a Sunday School luncheon, etc. and need a space. She makes casseroles/quiches/etc. for you to carryout if you need something for a baby shower, etc. They have a great outdoor play area for the kids including a tree swing my kids LOVE! Since they are locals, I just wanted to give them a shout out and hopefully increase their business....they are WONDERFUL ladies and deserve to be packed day in and day out (but save a table for me!)

Now, the best part! Leave a comment on this post and on Saturday, May 9 at 10pm I will draw out a name and that person gets a $10 gift certificate to The Veranda. Go eat at the Veranda, you'll be glad you did!

UPDATE: Veranda has gone out of business since this post :(

Houston, We're Having A Baby

2009-04-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

We were picked by an expectant mom in Houston, TX this afternoon. She is due with a little boy TODAY and goes to the doctor tomorrow. I'll keep you posted. Please say a prayer for us...we never dreamed all of this would happen at once. GOD IS IN CONTROL!

God Is In Control

2009-04-26T04:57:00.000-07:00

I knew last night as I closed my eyes, that I had to wake up this morning and type this post. It might be a long one, but hang out with me for a while and let me tell you a little bit about our day yesterday.

Friday was Jonathan's 37th birthday, so when we woke up yesterday morning, we decided to have a nice family day just celebrating daddy. There were also two showings scheduled on our house (one at 11am and one at 6pm) so we picked up, then headed out to do some junking. We hit a few yard sales and then decided to head to the Nashville flea market for the afternoon. After leaving the flea market, we headed home to rest before our planned dinner with my family at Anchor High Marina at 5:30pm. We had already called Cam (Isaac and Luke's best friend) to see if he wanted to come so we made plans to pick him up at 5ish.

I need to stop right here and let you know that around 2ish, our realtor, Ray Carman, called to tell us we had gotten a contract on our house. He emailed it to us and we knew we would counter back. I also should stop and tell you that the air conditioning went out on Leoma, our Honda Odyssey, last week. Instead of putting money into her, you know us...we thought "let's put it on craigslist and get daddy something else" I should also stop and tell you that our grass hadn't been mowed in 9 days so I facebooked our friends on facebook who have a side business and he literally showed up within an hour and did an amazing job. I tell you all this because our quiet afternoon turned into craziness. Doug was here mowing (THANK YOU AGAIN DOUG!), Ray shows up with an offer and the phone is ringing off the hook about Leoma that I put on craigslist on a whim.

We fill out the paperwork to counter, for Ray to tell us "Oh by the way, they've already accepted!" YES, WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!! We have to be out by May 29th and have nowhere to go. But I'm not worried, God is in control.

I also find a Suburban on craigslist from the original owner in HENDERSONVILLE that he posted yesterday morning, so J goes and looks at that. It's actually cheaper than what we are selling Leoma for. Haven't bought it yet, but we might. God is in control.

Then, we head to pick up Cam for dinner and he decides he doesn't want to go. He is disappointed, but it's no biggie. 7 year olds do that sometimes and he wanted to stay home and hang with his dad. So we head to Anchor High Marina for dinner. God is in control, keep reading.

Now, if you haven't seen my immediate family lately....well, we can take up some room at the dinner table. 11 of us at dinner. Service was HORRIBLE. Bless her heart, it was her second week, but I'm not sure she's got a bright future in waitressing. Our appetizer came WITH dinner, we would have to remind her multiple times we needed drink refills, she lost my mom's order so her food came out late. Not good.

As we were eating dinner, Maggie, my niece, got really hot. We were sitting on the outdoor patio and it was warm, to say the least. She was a little fussy, but honestly, we thought it was because she was burning up. Mom took her and thought she was acting a little funny, almost like she had a mini seizure. Maggie seemed ok though. Not great, but ok. Ali (Maggie's mom) then took her and was holding her a few minutes later when she did it again. Again, to me, it didn't look like what you think of when you think of a seizure. She just kind of jerked a bit, almost like you do when you think you are falling in your sleep in bed. We were done and of course, everyone was a little freaked, so we headed out of the restaurant. Ali and Josh immediately decided they were taking her to the hospital and mom and I encouraged her to call an ambulance.

We dialed 911 and gave our location and what was going on. I took the phone from mom and that's when Maggie started having a full blown seizure. Stopped breathing, turned purple, eyes rolling back in her head, scared the crap out of everyone but especially Ali who was up ahead of us holding her. As the local dispatch came on the phone, I'm not sure I can adequately type the emotions that went through me. You see, I stay pretty calm in crazy situations. He gives me peace. But as local dispatch came on the phone, I had a feeling I have never felt before. You see, the man that came on, Brandon, was the same man that answered the 911 call I made almost two years ago with Josh's heart stopped 5 days after Maggie was born. You can read about that HERE. I went over the situation with Maggie with tears in my eyes, she stopped seizing and actually seemed better than I expected post-seizure. As we waited for the ambulance, I asked the man his name. When he said, "Brandon" I explained to him who I was and how we were so thankful for him the night that Josh was so sick. The whole time I talked, I swear to you I felt God wrapping me in his arms saying "I knew this was going to happen, I'm taking care of you"

The ambulance arrived (by this time we had walked to the front of the LONG parking lot) and loaded Maggie in. Ali and Josh got in the ambulance as they checked out Mags to make sure she was ok. The firetruck arrived and let me just say, a big THANK YOU to the Hendersonville fire, EMT crew. You guys never cease to amaze me.

Jonathan brought the kids and I home, and I immediately jumped in Lady to head to the hospital. Mom and Dad were there when I arrived. The short of it is that Maggie definitely has some type of infection she is fighting off topped off by the fact that she got overheated. When she arrived at the hospital, her temp was 104.2 and that was after riding in an air conditioned ambulance the whole way there. I think it was very emotional for everyone simply because you can't help but wonder why Ali and Josh are going through so much. Maggie was sent home about 10pm with plenty of meds.

But GOD IS IN CONTROL! If you can't read about my day above and stop and say, "I don't know how they make it through all that craziness?" Well, let me tell you, it's by HIS grace, HIS love, HIS peace, HIS patience, and HIS understanding that he is constantly teaching us. We were created in HIS image; therefore, he WANTS us to be like him.

My offer stands anytime. If you don't know Jesus as your personal savior....if you want to know what a relationship with Christ is like....please email me. I would love to take you for coffee or any type of food really, I like to eat. I am not a saint, I make a million mistakes, but I love my heavenly father and I know he loves me. I love my relationship with HIM. One that is constantly growing and maturing. One that stretches me. One that teaches me.

One that molds me and makes me who I am.

THANKS for hanging on during this long read. I know I've been long winded lately, but can I get an AMEN to the fact that Maggie is going to be ok, that we sold our house, we sold our van (I think I left that part out), and GOD IS IN CONTROL!

Holiday World or Bust

2009-04-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

So, I am thinking of putting a little trip together for the "Adventures of Breagirl" followers. I'm thinking Holiday World. Many of you will remember our first trip there last year (you can find the post HERE)

I'm hoping Paula will see this and want to help us get there (wink, wink Paula!)

My goal is to get 50 people to go on our first official Breagirl vacay!! If you and your family are interested in an overnight trip to Holiday World, leave a comment or email me (go to my profile and you will find the link). I'm thinking Mayish which will give us plenty of time to get our tattoos done and gain a few pounds. Who's with me?

Totally Random

2009-04-23T13:30:00.001-07:00

This post is going to be so freaking random, but I think my life is kind of that way so it suits me.

First, don't forget to go to my sister's blog HERE and register to win a keychain. I just have to say, I LOVE MINE! It makes finding my keys super easy.

Second, in case you have missed me saying this before...migraines suck! I have had a horrible migraine daily for 13 days. Yes, 13 days. I don't know how people do this. As I type, my head is KILLING me, but I can't just stop living you know? I have so many things to catch up on once this yucky thing goes away...laundry, lunch with friends, stuff to mail, get my scrapbook table organized. Aah, the list goes on and on.

Third, if you get a Clipper magazine in the Sumner County area today in your mailbox...check out the ad for the Kids Clothes Basket towards the back. My sweet little Mary Elizabeth is their model this month and if I do say so myself, she is just precious. THANKS to all of you who have emailed, facebooked me to tell me...I had honestly forgotten all about it. I think she is going to be in their ad for Nashville Parent as well. I'll see if I can't get Grandmother to scan it in for me as I don't have a scanner and it's not available online. It's really cute!

P.S. The Kids Clothes Basket is having a closeout sale on some cool stuff. Rosie Posie outfits for $30 and under, all her smocked is 70% off and all her consignment is 50% off. She has some AWESOME stuff on her consignment rack!

Fourth, I have a lot to talk about adoption wise, but honestly, I'm pooped and I have a migraine and they are showing our house at 6pm tonight so I am going to sign off for now, but I'll update soon! Trust me, no big news, just more things I am learning in this process!

Saturday Yard Sale Finds

2009-04-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

My wonderful mother in law, Barbara, and I went to a neighborhood yard sale this morning. She has never been with me and I think I broke her in well. We'll see if she comments on this.

We headed to Mansker Farms neighborhood sale at 6am. I had an empty Suburban, cash and a sweet tea from McDonalds. FIRST HOUSE: found a Longaberger medium gathering basket for $3. OH YEAH! I also bought some books. Barbara found some scrapbooking supplies.

We then headed down to two houses on the same street that had sales side by side. Barbara got the boys an AWESOME power wheels four wheeler. Next door, which happened to be a sweet consignor, I bought a beautiful set of silk curtains which I have no idea where I will hang, but I will build windows if I have to. I also bought some alphabet stamp sets for my friend Laura, who had randomly mentioned she wished she had more a few weeks ago. Barbara got a toy stroller for M.E., more scrapbook supplies, and some dishes for church.

From there, we kept on going. I had $100 to spend and I had $10 left when the day was done. I bought some textbooks to resell on Amazon, some AMAZING baby clothes for the new one (I found both boy and girl and didn't pay more than $1 each for them..including some NWT Gymboree! WOO HOO), books for the kids, a skateboard for Luke (it was on his list), and an awesome tricycle for M.E. that has the handle on the back so I can push her while she is little. I also found her a whole accessory set for her Bitty Baby doll that I will put up until Christmas as she isn't old enough yet to appreciate it. I got 3 Nintendo DS games for the boys, a Leappad writing system to donate to the kindergarten classes at Beech, and the most awesome coat for M.E. for next winter.

We bought so much stuff that Jonathan had to come swap cars with me so we could keep going...we seriously filled the Suburban up. We had a great time and it was sweet, sweet time with Barbara. If I haven't told you before, this woman rocks! She is funny, so loving and let me tell you...she is also a dealseeker!

Already looking forward to Mansker Farms next year!

P.S. I had to come home and clean as they showed our house TWICE today AND they are showing it again tomorrow. We might just sell this sucker!

To the person who looked at our house today

2009-04-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry, I am.

You see, when they called at 11:40am to tell me you wanted to come at 12:30pm, I really wasn't thinking straight when I said "sure" I wasn't thinking straight because we were driving to the surgery center so my husband could have his fourth knee surgery (he's fine by the way, just drugged out of his mind). So I wasn't thinking about exactly what my house looked like when I left it at 11am.

When I returned home, however, I quickly realized why I should have said no. You see, I pride myself on keeping a clean house. Cluttered....yes, we have four children, but my clutter is clean. I guess I lost control yesterday when I decided to purge my youngest daughter's room. Her room today was perfect, however the rest of the house appeared to have had a clothing bomb go off in it.

All the jewelry on the dining room table? Yes, that is for my friend's jewelry party on Monday night. I'm sure you thought I was trying to decide what to hock to pay our mortgage since it appeared by the size of the lawn out front that surely we are headed into foreclosure. I promise, our loan is current and we aren't selling the house for those reasons, but you would never know that. The grass is tall enough to loose a small child, but you probably didn't realize that our wonderful yard guy hasn't been able to come with all the rain. I promise we do mow our yard, matter of fact, he came this afternoon after you had left.

I'm sorry my boys dirty underwear was on their bedroom floor. I usually go behind them picking up dirty clothes when they forget to do it, but I guess I couldn't fit another piece into the laundry room that was overflowing with dirty clothes.

Oh the pantry? Yes, my pantry is normally quite lovely. But not today. I didn't realize my lovely children had decided to put the crackers back in there upside down with the box open leaving about 40 crackers throughout the shelves. I promise we don't normally let them do that, nor do we have bugs.

The bins in random places throughout the house including the dining room, master bedroom and living room? You see, I run a children's consignment sale and I was trying to get all my fall/winter clothing in bins so that I could be ahead of the game. I wouldn't have done that had I known you were coming today.

So, please, feel free to come back any other day, but don't hold today against me. The house was really BAD. If you recognized our picture anywhere in the house, please don't tell anyone what a bad housekeeper I am. It's not normally like this and I promise it will look better when/if you decide to come back. I know if I were in your shoes, I would have run from here screaming.

UPDATE: Saturday at 2:35pm. Evidently it wasn't THAT bad...they are coming back to look again tonight at 5pm :)

UPDATE: Saturday, 4/25 at 4ish: Evidently it really wasn't bad all...we just got an offer from them. We'll see :)

Adoption Update on Tax Day

2009-04-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here watching the late news and thanking GOD that we got our taxes done months ago. They had someone live at the post office in Nashville that is open til midnight and the lines were LONG. So glad I am not stressed about that tonight.

Honestly, I'm not stressed about anything tonight. Call it purging, nesting, whatever you will...but I got a ton done today. M.E.'s room is done and all of her fall/winter clothing is on hangers and ready to be tagged for the next consignment sale. I think it's a record peeps...I'm already starting and it's mid-April.

Several of you have emailed asking how the adoption is going. It's funny because you always start out by saying "I hate to ask, but how are things going?" PLEASE, we are so THANKFUL you ask and remember us! THANK YOU! The adoption process has definitely slowed down since we asked Valley of Hope to stop sending us stuff. Our profile was shown on Monday, but we haven't heard anything yet and I'm really in no hurry. I want the e-mom to take all the time she needs to make a decision.

Our next step: well, we will finally send in our registration to Catholic Charities and then just sit back and relax. I have found a new site that I am in love with...not only because of their mission, but also it gives me a face and a name to pray for. These children need homes just like all the others so I pray that they find their forever homes very soon.

I am also putting my creative energy into some planning for my friend Laura's gold party on Monday night. If you haven't heard of a gold party, well, let me tell you. It's all the rage right now. Basically, these "gold people" come set up and buy your gold! Yep, all those nasty old boyfriend rings, charms, broken chains, even dental gold (EEWWW!) The best part: they pay you cash on the spot and Laura gets a percentage for their adoption fund. How cool is that? 'Bout time you go to a home party and get paid for coming huh? What I decided to do to help out was to put another twist on it. While you are cleaning out your gold, clean out all that other jewelry you just don't wear anymore and donate it to Laura. We will have a table with all the "costume" jewelry on it and it will all be $3 each. ALL THE MONEY from this goes to their adoption fund. So, you need to bring your gold, your costume jewelry, and some money. Laura's going to be feeding everyone so feel free to stop by. It doesn't matter that you may not know her, just email her and she'll give you directions. They are bringing home their little man from Ethiopia SOON and need this party to be a huge success so that they can bring him home debt free! See you there!

Spring Cleaning

2009-04-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love to spring clean. I just lied. I don't actually enjoy the cleaning aspect of it, but I love to purge and I love going in a room and knowing it is DONE!

I have been dealing with migraines a lot this week, so today has been the first day I have really been doing some productive work. I decided after lunch to tackle M.E.'s room. I had already cleaned out Anna's room, so it was time to do the next girl. As I type, I have a HUGE mound of clothing in the middle of her floor, but the closet is P-E-R-F-E-C-T. All the spring/summer clothes are grouped together, fall/winter clothes for next year are in the back and the few baby things I have went ahead and bought are at the very front. I am currently hanging outfits for Saint Vickie to tag for the next consignment sale.

Because I swear I have ODD (a combination of OCD and ADD), I have also started two other projects (that's what I do...start a million projects and expect them all to be perfect). I am working in the living room on a bin from the garage. In it I have found loads of books my kids are done with that will also be going to Saint Vickie, a trash bag full of random stuff for my friend Tracy who is having a yard sale this weekend to raise money for her adoption, and another bag of stuff for my friend Amber who is having a yard sale in May for her adoption.

I have also been actively listing things of significant value I have found on ebay and I am proud to announce I have sold over $250 worth of CRAP so far in two weeks. I had a large lot of Longaberger liners, etc. that I had bought at a yard sale for $60 that I turned around and sold for $150. Then, I sold a Leapster I had found at a yard sale for $8 in which I turned around and sold for $42. Last but not least, a pair of pants I had bought at Matilda Jane that didn't fit...and I actually sold them for more than I paid! All this money is going towards my new crib I bought this weekend (no, I didn't pay that for it...you know me better than that). We actually moved M.E. into the new crib and are going to put new baby into M.E's old crib. Did I mention that once I move the large pile out of the middle of the floor, her room will be perfect?

So, that's what's new for us. How's your Spring cleaning going?

Who doesn't love FREE!?!?!

2009-04-14T06:39:00.001-07:00

My uber talented sister, Ali, is having an awesome give away on her blog right now. You must check it out. Want to know what she is giving away?

She actually just gave me one last weekend and I LOVE it. It makes finding my keys so much easier and she told me that they are even monogrammable so you can take it to the Kids Clothes Basket and have an initial put on it.

Leave her a comment and let her know I sent you! GOOD LUCK!

Spring Break : M'Boro Tornado

2009-04-13T19:55:00.001-07:00

As we returned home from Chattanooga, we immediately began making plans for the rest of our week. The boys wanted to spend the day with Grandmother and Papa Sam on Thursday, so we made plans to go to Murfreesboro with all the kids on Friday to visit the Discovery Center. Alison B. had suggested this to me a while back and I just knew the kids would love it. We set out Friday morning just like any normal day, running late and low on patience!

We got to Alison's and then followed her to M'Boro to the Discovery Center. If you haven't been, you need to go. It's REALLY cool and in my opinion, even more interactive than the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. The price is super reasonable too...$5 for adults and children over 2. Under 2 is free. The kids loved it. They had lots of different activities including a life size fire truck where the kids could dress up like firemen, a vegetable stand, slide from the second floor to the first floor, train room, wooden block area, coal station complete with mining helmets and shovels, water play area and a great area for toddlers.

After playing for a while, we were getting hungry and decided to head to Toot's. We don't have these north of Nashville and I LOVE that kids get a hotdog meal for FREE so you didn't have to twist my arm. As we headed out from the Discovery Center, I noticed that it looked like a storm was coming. I think it was at this point that Alison got a call telling her about the tornado warning. We also thought we heard tornado sirens, but we weren't sure. We got the kids loaded as the first raindrops hit our windshields.

When we got to Toot's (which was packed), Alison noticed that the tv's inside which usually show sporting events were showing the bad weather heading our way. We got several cell phone calls warning us that tornados had been spotted and to be careful, but honestly we were so caught up in wrangling our 6 children that we didn't worry too much.

That's when we noticed this guy that ran in and threw his still lit cigarette onto the ground. What was this freak doing? Didn't he realize he was inside the building with a cigarette. I got up to put out the cig and thought "hmmm...maybe I should look outside" That's when I saw this:

All I could think was "get the children to the bathroom." I looked at Alison, told her it was a tornado, and we pushed the kids through the crowd and into the bathroom. We got into tornado drill position like you do at school and silently prayed. It sounds nuts, but I really wasn't freaking out. At this moment, J called my cell phone and all I said to him was "there's a tornado, we're in the bathroom" and hung up. We heard them come over the speaker system and tell people to get away from the windows so we honestly had no idea what was happening outside our four walls. After a few minutes, someone went out and came back to tell us it was gone.

We stayed to eat lunch simply because it was now POURING outside and we weren't going to be out driving in this mess. Little did we know that by the time we finished lunch, it would take me 3 hours to get home. Thankfully, Mary Elizabeth fell asleep followed by the other three on our way home.

The devastation we saw on the way home was awful. It's so weird how a tornado is so picky. One house is destroyed while the home across the street is just fine. The whole way home, the kids and I prayed that we could get home. So many roads were closed.

We also prayed for my friend Melissa and her children as we kept hearing of the damage in her area. Cell phones would work one minute and then not work for the next twenty. We all thanked God when I finally got her on the phone three hours later!

It was definitely an interesting ending to our Spring Break. The boys have remained a little freaked out at bedtime and constantly ask us as they are going to sleep if any tornados will be coming tonight. As Alison said, I guess it wouldn't be spring in Tennessee without some crazy weather!