Treading Water

The kids at the park:)
Beautiful pitching in her softball tournament - they won. She hit 2 home runs!
JJ was crawling around on the grass for the first time. He pulled the bottles out of the diaper bag and then picked one up and stood up! it was the first time he stood up without pulling himself up! I can't believe I was sitting there with a camera when he did it lol! The other cute thing about this picture is that he is 10 1/2 months old wearing the 0-3 month outfit that we bought him in UT as his coming home from the hospital outfit - he finally fits in it!!!! He hasn't gained even an oz in 2 weeks, coming in at 16 lbs 14 oz at the moment.


We had a fun day at the park with a picnic and playtime. JJ loved being wore (well, he always loves being worn!) He is quite the snuggler:)

We have found foods that Grace can eat. There aren't many - pretty much meat and veggies. Since she doesn't like those much she is limiting herself. We've got 3 veggies she'll eat and about 6 meats. I found an oatmeal/applesauce cookie recipe so made her a batch that she gets one a day. We found out she is not gluten intolerant! That was good news:)

JJ had a sinus infection from all of the allergies resulting in congestion. He got 80% better on the first antibiotic but it came back again along with 5 days of fever. So, we are on the 2nd one. Unfortunately that one gave him diarrhea so we had to stop it yesterday. Already by today he is more congested and is running a fever again:( Tomorrow I'll have to call the Doc and get another one:( I am giving him lots of probiotics to counteract negative effects...or we'll end up with a situation like we have with Grace again...

I even got sick with a fever and terrible body aches and chills for about 24 hours. I couldn't understand why the house was cooling so well. I kept turning up the temp in the house and yet I was freezing. The rest of the family, including the baby, was sweating. Finally I realized it was me. The ibuprofen did nothing to help so finally I took an Aleve Cold and Sinus as I thought maybe the sore throat was due to allergies. It made it much better. 12 hours later though when it wore off I was in the same boat. Thankfully 12 hours after that I was better (except for the sore throat so I am gargling Colodial Silver). I was hunkered down in flannel pj's with 2 down comforters and 2 denim quilts - my family thought I was crazy lol!

Hope you are all staying cool! It sure is hot!!

We got new carpet!!! Our orange 30 year old dirty nasty stuff is gone and the new carpet is installed. I have enjoyed organizing and getting rid of a lot of things - especially since the two oldest kids' bedrooms were involved lol! JJ loves his siblings and they love being loved on:)
Beautiful completed her 9 months of Bible Instruction Class with a "final" of being asked questions for 40 minutes in front of the church of all that they learned (along with her 9 classmates). She did very well and we are praying that God will solidify what she learned in her heart and grow much fruit. She is so precious to us!


And finally, Beautiful is playing softball again:) She is pitcher and first baseman. We LOVE watching her play and she has a passion for it. Friday she hit a home run! Besides, I'm really not athletic and if I ever tried anything like her sliding here I'd be in a wheelchair lol!

pics!

We love that it is warm enough to eat on the deck again!
We sat JJ on the grass while we planted the garden and he just sat the whole time - Grace and the other kids entertained him:)

The night before Mother's Day was so calm and beautiful. We had a bonfire out by our trampoline. The kids had so much fun:)
JJ is sitting so big now! He started crawling the day before his adoption finalization:)
And...we went to my parents house for Easter. We played and laughed and had fun...in the house due to the rainy and cold weather. But...Easter Day was beautiful and the kids had fun blowing bubbles:)

JJ

School...who wants to get school done???

Don't you just want to eat him up?? He is so adorable (I'm not biased or anything;0)

JJ is now 7 months. He is rolling both ways. He sits up less than a minute. He loves to stare at people until they look at him- then he stars smiling like crazy to get them to interact with him:) He will also stare at people until they look at him - then he will shake his head. He waits for us to shake our head at him then he shakes his head again, over and over. It is very cute. He had 3 nights in a row when he only woke up once!!!!! Last night he didn't sleep well and wanted to cuddle (not really awake but fussy). He would only sleep on my chest which is painful for me as I cannot lay on my back well with my herniated disk. Around 1:45 a.m. I finally put him in his bassinet right next to the bed and slept a couple of hours before he got fussy again and wanted to be cuddled. I crawled out of bed at 8...and he kept sleeping until 10:30!!! I think he just wants our bed lol! He doesn't like any solid food yet but grabs at whatever we are trying to eat. Thus, we give him empty bowls/cups and he seems relatively content:) Grace and Buddy were such content babies - they loved being left alone on the floor for long periods of time. Not JJ!!! He needs to be held and interacted with constantly. And...with such a cutie pie in the house who wouldn't want to just love and squeeze and kiss on him all day long;)

After having a child who has attachment issues, it is a different perspective to have a baby that fusses when he sees me get my shoes on to leave or if I walk past him without picking him up. It is SUCH JOY to be bonded! I so fiercely love him. While my back is certainly feeling the effects of JJ finally getting up to 15 lbs (so tiny, but yet God knew that I needed a tiny baby with my back issues:) I love holding him, carrying him, wearing him, cuddling with him, kissing him, and just looking at him. I could do nothing all day long but enjoy his smiles and raspberries and giggles.

And then I think of his Tummy Mommy. She sent some pictures last week and has sent two letters directed to him (most are directed to us). She is handling this so well and yet it is a grieving process. She shared that JJ's sister who is 18 months old picks up his pictures and says, "bro." While on the one hand sweet I then think, "what would it be like to only know your sibling from pictures?" We hope for them to love Jesus through this and we are seeing small indications that she thinks of Him. We have one adopted child who is asking a lot about "Tummy Mommy" lately and is sad...making me think about what that process will be like for JJ. Then I remind myself that tomorrow is tomorrow...enjoy him today... So...I'm off to kiss my baby!!!

Birthdays and stuff

A proud big sister!
Another proud big sister;)
My parents came down for several days and watched Beautiful play a Basketball tournament. They took 4th place!!

Every time that I decide to get on my blog and update I read what I have missed out on others' blogs and then the baby cries and I don't get an update done! I have written lots of updates in my head but they never seem to make it here.

"Do not grow weary in doing what is right" - has become a focal verse lately. Relationships have superceded everything else. My house is a mess. My paperwork is not getting done. Friendships are getting neglected. But my kids are being loved and cherished. There are a lot of them to raise up - I can have a clean house in 18 years!