CHOSEN

July is a very special month in our home. It is the month that we celebrate being "Chosen" for both of our children. Both of those days are etched in our minds forever!

There is one thing that never ceases to amaze me when it comes to building families through adoption, and that is the hand of the Lord. He is so mindful of us all and of our joys and sorrows, our wants, needs and desires, our good and our bad choices. We are quite aware of how the Lord has orchestrated our lives to bring not only our children to us, but their birth families.

On July 24th, 2007 we found out that a beautiful young lady had chosen us to be the parents of her unborn baby. I have already told the story about that day on here so today I wanted to share with you part of Mac's birth mothers story. The part of how she chose us.

"...Then came the time to choose parents for “Peanut”.  At first I felt like maybe the caseworker should just pick one, however he explained many women feel more comfortable in their decision if they make it themselves.  So I got online and started looking at couples from Montana.  I didn’t want the hassle of inter-state adoption laws.  There were about a dozen couples or so from Montana.  Right away the names "B and B" stood out to me.  I clicked on their profile.  Looking at their picture they looked like the ideal couple.  I read their profile and was really interested in the fact they had large families.  I thought that would be good for “Peanut” to be able to be raised around his cousins, in case the opportunity for him to have a sibling wouldn’t happen.  To keep things fair, I looked at the other couples and read all their profiles.  I wrote down each couples names so I could pray about it in the next few weeks. 

Day after day I would pray over each individual couple waiting for some prompting or feeling about each one.  I was starting to get frustrated because I wasn’t getting any answers.  That morning I had read a talk by Richard G. Scott about receiving answers to prayers.  He instructed that sometimes the Lord lets us make our own decisions and then he can approve or disapprove.  So I got down on my knees and prayed:  “Heavenly Father, I would really like "B and B" to be Peanut’s parents.”   I had this amazing peace and comfort come over me which I couldn’t stop the flow of tears.  I knew that He had approved of my decision and I was so grateful for that confirmation.  I called the caseworker to let him know I had made my decision, hoping that they hadn’t been chosen by someone else as I had taken a few weeks to decide...."

Every time I read this, my eyes fill with tears.

Mac will know how he became our son. He will know that he was not just given away, but he was loved so much that his birth mother took her time and prayed about the right thing for him.

It was all for him!

C is such a great example to me in all that she does. She takes my breath away with her love and passion for life and the gospel.

~~~

On July 1, 2010 we awoke to the news that once again our prayers would be answered and a beautiful young lady and a brave young man had chosen us to be the parents of their unborn baby. Mac would get to be a big brother! I can't tell Oak's story, but I quite literally get the chills every time I think about it. It once again was a testament of answered prayers and that the Lord's hand is in it all. And how important it is to listen to the spirit.

Oak's birth parents are amazingly strong and I am in awe of the choice they made for Oak. And not only do they love Oak, but have shown great love for Mac too!

~~~

How blessed I feel to experience adoption and motherhood.

And all because of the strength and braveness of others

and the love of our Heavenly Father.

I shared this video on Facebook last week, but I wanted to share it on this special day here.

Sunday Gratitude...

I am grateful...

01. to be able to go to the local fire station to have Oak's new carseat installation checked. (I knew it wasn't at the right angle).

02. that we were able to go to my in-laws house for dinner tonight. It has been so long since we have done that and just sat down and talked. love it!

03. that Grandma C texted me to say they were going to stop by and pick up Mac last night to take him to get ice cream.

04. for the relationship my kids get to have with their grandparents. a total dream come true!

05. that Oak has picked up on walking so quickly. it is the cutest thing to watch how excited she gets.

06. that Oak has started to jabber non stop. also the cutest thing ever to listen to.

07. that we get to go spend a couple of days at my parents house this week.

08. that when getting ready for church this morning, that time seemed to go by slowly and I didn't feel in a rush to get us all dressed and ready to go (like most Sundays)

09. that Mac's Birth Mother keeps us updated on what is going on in her life. I love hearing from her and just love knowing how she is doing.

10. actually for the rain this week. It has just been nice even though it ruined alot of our plans this week.

Oak {11 months old}

...weighing her this morning she weighed 24.8 lbs. but that was also right after I fed her and filled her little tummy.
...she will fold her arms for prayer, when you ask her to, or when she sees anyone else with their arms folded.
...says "Uh-Oh!" constantly. She loves to throw or drop anything off her highchair and exclaim Uh-Oh.
...when she can't see me she will yell "Maaa!" over and over until I answer her.
...she LOVES to rough house with Mac. She giggles and giggles.
...when she is getting into something she shouldn't and you tell her No-No. She will stop and look at you, tilt her head and give you the biggest, cheesiest grin. She knows she is cute and tries to use it to her advantage.
...she can be really goofy sometimes. she runs along the couch back and forth giggling, she whips her head from side to side (like ear to shoulder) until she loses her balance and falls and then just giggles.
...she can stand for about 5 seconds or so when she wants to.
...she will walk while using just one hand to hold ours. she is still a bit wobbly but getting so much better all the time.
...she loves cell phones. when she is playing with one and you say "Hello?" She will put the phone to her ear. so cute!
...she loves to play peek-a-boo! anytime she finds a blanket she will put it over her head to play.
...she got her 5th tooth recently.
...we finally got her a convertible car seat (although it isn't installed yet). She is just getting too scrunched in her carrier (which we never take out of the car anymore anyway) although she hasn't reached the max weight of 30 lbs for it yet.
...she is a great sleeper and eater.
...she is definitely getting her own opinion on things and will make sure we know when she doesn't want to do something.
...she loves baths and recently discovered that she can move around and get all crazy. It's cute, but makes it really hard to get her washed up or make sure she doesn't get hurt.
...she is a mommy's girl, but when daddy is around she always wants him.
...her hair is getting longer, yay! not quite sure what color it will end up being yet.
...she is really hard at church because she is so wiggly.
...she knows she is cute and can't stand when she doesn't get the attention she deserves.
...she loves drinking water out of a sippy and a cup when I give her the chance.
...she no longer drinks a bottle. she drinks her milk from a sippy great!
...she still eats some baby food because she was low in iron at her 9 month appt. So I buy the baby food that is high in iron or I mix any other baby food with oatmeal to make sure she is getting more than enough iron everyday to get her levels up.
...she will still let me spoon feed her.
...she signs: doggy, eat, milk, more, all done, she is starting to figure out please,
...she waves bye bye and hi. And will say "Hi!"
...She babbles alot and it is so cute.
...she loves to dance when she hears music or singing.
...her favorite foods are still mandarins and cheese. and the Graduates Lil' Crunchies.
...she still continues to be a happy, "go with the flow", content baby.

Sunday Gratitude...

I am grateful...

01. that a new week is starting.

02. that Mac will have swim lessons everyday this week.

03. the we get to have our Bishop's wife over for dinner tonight. Our Bishop is out of town for a few weeks and all of their children (I think 13 of them) are all grown and gone, and she is home by herself.

04. that I got to spend some time with my cute and so sweet niece. She was so much fun and helpful! And she really is just the sweetest young lady, I love her so much!

05. that we were able to go to the Temple yesterday for a friends sealing to her family. She is my visiting teaching partner, and I love her to death. She is a convert of just a year. And her cute daughter who was in my primary class last year. We are so happy that they can too have an eternal family.

06. that we got to go to two family birthday parties yesterday.

07. that our deck is almost finished. Hubs just needs to put two more coats of stain on it. I will try to take a picture of it this week and do a post about it.

08. for the thoughtfulness of Oak's birth parents who stopped by to bring a gift for both Oak and Mac.

09. for my two babies that are such a gift and light in my life.

10. that work is going really well for Hubs and that he is enjoying it.

Mac Funnies

* He randomly said to me, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?!"

* (See picture above) Mac woke up from his nap (a little early) and instantly walked to the front door announcing he wanted to go outside. I told him I had to go get dressed first (I had been doing housework all morning) and he said, "Ok, I will wait right here." and layed down on the floor by the door. I was gone for maybe 3 minutes at most and come back and he was sound asleep. And slept for another 2 hours on the floor.

* This happened several times in one week: when I asked Mac to go put on new underwear (when getting dressed in the morning) he would just put the new ones over the old ones and I wouldn't find this out until later in the day when he would have a hard time getting both pairs back on after using the restroom.

* he was eating cotton candy for the first time and he looks at it and says " it looks like stuff from a couch!"

* I was telling him a story in the car to try to keep him awake. And when the story was over he whispered to me, "Mama, you have to say The End".

* I said, "Mac, please stopping hitting your thing on the table." and Mac said, "It's not a thing, it's a Buzz Lightyear!" (In my defense, I didn't see what it was, I just heard him hitting something on the table)

*(This one is actually a "Hubs Funny", but Mac was involved) Overheard at bedtime one night: Mac asked Daddy to do "This Little Piggy" on his toes. And so Hubs (The Accountant/Finance guy) names off Stocks to buy on the Market instead of buying roast beef at the Market. Haha...such a nerd...love him!

* some friends (who are like grandparents to our kids) were watching Mac and Oak while we went on a date. Mac sat on our friend's lap and called her Grandma. She said, "I'm not old enough to be a grandma!" and Mac said, "OK, Grandpa!"

* My SIL was trying to get all the kids to pick up the mess they made with the large stack of games at the lake house. She asked Mac to help and he said, "I can't help right now, I'm busy...(pointing to the Operation Game) this guy is REAL sick!"

* My 12 yr old niece was painting a picture of a monster at Mac's request. After she got done he said to her, "Now THAT is a monster!!!"

4th of July at the Lake House...

As always the Lake House didn't disappoint this year. In fact, the weather was amazing. It only rained the day we got there and was sunny and really warm the rest of the time. We did have a slight interruption in the middle of our vacation where we had to leave for the weekend to go to Hubs's cousin's wedding in North Portland and then we went to church the next day and headed back to the lake house. We also had to leave earlier than we really wanted to because of Hubs having church meetings Tuesday night and having to work Wednesday. But our time there was well spent, and we are missing it all ready. I really love the memories we make there and that our children will grow up spending our summer holidays there.

Hubs's Great-Uncle and Aunt live on the other side of the lake and had this paddle boat that they gave to our family/lake house. They live on a windy peninsula where it is hard to use and the lake house is in a protected alcove. The paddle boat did not get any rest the entire time. In fact my niece Mak (the one in the picture) spent most of her time in it. It was alot of fun, and was very tiring after being in it for awhile. And then my silly niece M swimming in the background with a lilly pad on her head, silly girl.

This picture reminds me of THIS picture I have of Mac at the lake house when he was about 5 months old.

Mac excited to jump in the lake!

Hubs and my niece M jumping in the lake. M practically lived in the lake.

Mac was so excited to jump in that i couldn't keep a good hold on him to help him not get hurt on the dock. So he partially fell in. He drank some water and was a little upset at first, but i used a swim lesson tactic and asked if he swallowed any fish and that made him  happy again. He got in and out maybe three times. He actually loved it.

Hitching a ride on Daddy's back. He wouldn't let go to just float in his life jacket.

Hubs and Oak hangin on the water tramp. This was before it got moved down to the lake.

Splashing in the kiddie pool with cousins.

Me attempting a picture next to Hubs on the water tramp.

Oak just looking so stinkin cute!

Before we left for the Lake House Hubs took Mac to pick out a fishing pole to buy, so they could do some fishing. They fished mostly off the dock, but tried the paddle boat once.

View from the house.

Hanging out at the dock, waiting our turn to take the kids on the paddle boat.

Mac splashing!

Oak's first time with her life jacket on. She didn't like it much, but I don't really blame her. As long as I pulled the neck part down away from her she was fine.

Getting ready to get on the paddle boat. Once we got on every took off and weren't able to get a picture of us on it.

All bundled up and ready to get on the boat to go watch fireworks.

Just the Dad's take the kids. There were 3 adults and I think 9 kids ages 16 to 3.5

The girls stayed back and put the littlest ones to bed and did some detailed planning for Hubs's little sister's wedding next month.

Just being cute!

snack outside in our swim suits.

Getting ready to go fishing again.

happy girl and happy grandma

Eating whip cream that Grandpa G gave her. He is always trying to feed the babies stuff.

This is a bad picture in general, but her face in it is priceless. She kept signing more and was so excited to get more whip cream from Grandpa G.

Sparklers! He wouldn't do them last year. This year he would do them, but they weren't his favorite.

Another attempt at getting in a picture.

I thought Mac looked so big in this picture.

Love this pic of all the cousins and all the smoke from the sparklers.

Hubs lighting a tank. We don't take any big fireworks because we don't want to start a fire.

Waiting patiently to do the traditional grandkid 4th of July pic and of course playing with mommy's phone.

cute cousins.

Goofy Uncle J!

The cute boys waiting patiently. We had to give lots of bribes to Mac so that he would cooperate for pictures. Which consisted of a boat ride, a cookie, a Popsicle and a treat of some sort. He did awesome!

They are so cute! Love my nieces and nephews!

We did the pictures then started doing family shots and realized that we forgot to get the flag in in the picture. But Mac still did great with a few more bribes.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures right now.

This was Oak's first time wearing a swim suit.

First time in a kiddie pool. She loved it as you can see.

Our happy girl!