Guest Post!

My friend, Lauren Hawkins at Heaven Minded Living posted this on her blog, so I am featuring her as a guest poster!

Destined to be friends...we hope!

Nate and Luke are only 6 days apart in age, so they spend a lot of time together in the nursery on Sundays. I managed to catch a few sweet, and not-so-sweet, moments on camera! 

The picture above cracked me up because of two things: 1) Notice how Nate's shoe doesn't fully velcro...his feet are too fat! 2) Notice how Luke's left foot and ankle are oddly twisted...he is apparently double-jointed in the ankles and can turn his foot to insane angles! 

 Both smiling sweetly at the camera, though Nate's smile is hidden by his current favorite toy,  the "ring!"

 Now they're not so sure about this situation...

And this was the last picture. Right before this Luke shrieked at Nate and tried to grab him (I'm sure in an attempt to be loving=). Nate was scared and began crying. You can see Kristine rescuing Nate from her son's clutches. 

They'll either be best friends or drive each other crazy! We hope that it's more of the former than the latter.

Fuzz . . . . .

THIS is why they call me Fuzz!

Might we have some curls forming?

Chillin' in my new Britax Marathon 70 (and showing off my top toofers).

Eat 'em up!  Yum!

I'm in the big leagues now!

Who knew running water could be so entertaining?

"Here doggy, doggy, doggy, doggy . . . ."

Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1

When we walked in to church last week, several people commented that it looked like Luke had grown a lot of new hair in the last couple of weeks, and I think they are right!  Ever since he was born, his hair stands straight up after it gets washed, which is why we started calling him Fuzz (see first pic above).  His hair also appears to have some curl to it in back, especially when he sweats back there.  Is it possible for him to get any cuter??!!  Blond hair, blue eyes, AND CURLS?  Oh my!  Take the key and lock him up, lock him up, lock him up!  Take the key and lock him up, my fair little boy!

Fact 2

   Luke has a spiffy new Britax car seat!  We chose it for several reasons, the first being that it is one of the highest rated seats for safety.  The second reason is that he can stay in the rear-facing position until he is 40 lbs. (provided his legs are still comfortable), and once he reaches 40 lbs., he can sit in a forward-facing position until he is 70 lbs.

Fact 3

Lukey LOVES strawberries.  Of all the foods he has tried, strawberries are definitely his favorite!  In the picture above, he tried to lick the high chair tray after he ate all the strawberries!

Fact 4

Luke has graduated to the big bathtub!  No more pictures of Luke in the kitchen sink with dirty dinner dishes behind him.  (Hold your applause)

Fact 5

Luke is captivated by water running out of the tap.  Daddy is sweating in anticipation of some high bills down the road . . . .

Fact 6

Luke is terrified of loud noises!  I was making an orange julius earlier this week and when I started the blender, the ice cubes being crushed terrified him and he screamed like I have never heard him before!  BROKE MY HEART!!!!  Of course, the older kids had great fun making me feel bad for scaring my sweet little baby boy.  He doesn't like the vacuum either, but he doesn't cry -- he growls and hollers at it!  He stiffens up, furrows his brow and talks nasty to it!  Our new protocol is for one person to take Lukey into a different room while loud activities are going on elsewhere in the house.

Fact 7

Luke has a ball crawling everywhere!  I'm mostly in the kitchen during the day, and while I work, he crawls around chasing after toys.  He likes to pick a toy up, give it a heave ho, crawl to it and then do it all over again.  

Fact 8

Luke's favorite sounds to make are "da" and "th."  No "ma" yet.  I'm a workin' on it.  :)

Fact 9

Luke has learned that if he makes a sustained sound with his voice in the car when it is moving, it will make his voice vibrate.  A few weeks ago, I thought that he was humming, which I guess he is in a way, but I just realized why this week.  He is just adorable to watch in the car -- his voice and cheeks vibrate in unison!

Have I mentioned lately that he is growing up way too fast?  He just makes my heart swell with joy and love!  (That last part goes for ALL of my kids!!!)

They're Home!

 The kids had a great trip to Michigan, although we all wish that the circumstances were different.  The Lord graciously blessed their time there and His hand of provision was mighty throughout the whole trip.

They left their Aunt Sue's house late this morning and the GPS gave them an ETA at home of around 7:00 p.m.  At about 3:30 in the afternoon, Andrew calls me to tell me that they are pulled over on the side of the freeway because Christian saw a haze in the rear view mirror trailing behind them, and after maneuvering to a different lane, they realized it was coming from our van.  They pulled over on the shoulder and after some inspection, Andrew determined that it was a transmission problem.  Heart stoppage for mom!!!!!  I grilled them intensely -- "Where are you?  Are you in a safe place?  Are you far enough off the road (as I hear semi trucks careening past that sound like they are 5 feet away)?  Do you have water?  Is there shade nearby?"  What an utterly helpless feeling I had knowing that my three teenagers were stranded at the side of the road in a different state!  

Tom was on a trip and in the air, so it was up to me to pull my head together and figure out the best course of action.  The kids were 13 miles north of Chattanooga on I-24 E where I-59 branches off.  They were a safe distance off the road, they had water, they had shade, and they were actually getting a kick out of this new adventure.  I called AAA and the rep on the other end told me that they couldn't help the kids despite the fact that we have a membership because Christian was the driver and he wasn't on the policy -- they insure the driver, not the family or the vehicle.  We went round in circles and I confess that my blood pressure and voice were rising.  I remember saying, "So you are telling me that despite the fact that I have a AAA membership, and that MY teenage children are driving MY car, that you are going to leave them stranded at the side of the road?  She then says that we can add Christian to the policy if I would like.  NOW WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE????  

After adding Christian to the policy, she made arrangements for a tow truck to get to them.  She advised me that the tow truck would not be able to accommodate all three of them and that I would need to make other arrangements for them to be picked up.  I was two hours away with a hungry baby that needed to be fed, so it was going to be awhile before I could get to them.  I remembered that my friend, Melanie Anderson, had a sister that lived in Chattanooga, and as much as I hated to impose on anyone, I was desperate!  I made a quick call to Melanie, and she was sure that her sister Linda could help.  I called Linda a few minutes later and she was more than willing to do whatever I needed.  She even offered to have the kids spend the night at her house!  I was so excited about them coming home that I couldn't bear the thought of them being gone one more night, so I asked her if she would just take them to her house and I would be there as soon as I could to pick them up this evening.  Much to my surprise, she said she would meet me in Rome, Georgia so I didn't have to drive so far!  WOW!  God bless Linda Ballard for being an angel to our family!

Meanwhile, the kids unloaded everything out of the van and the tow truck showed up a few minutes later.  God bless the tow truck driver too who said that he would stay with the kids until their ride showed up.  Linda showed up a few minutes later and then the kids and the van were on their way.  I had the van towed to a transmission shop in downtown Chattanooga in case Tom wanted someone to diagnose the problem.  

Bubby and I made the trip up to Rome where Linda and the kids were waiting for us at a McDonald's with a van stuffed FULL of their stuff.  I was so happy to see them that I missed getting any pictures other than the one above when we got home late that evening!

Praise be to God our Father for His hand of mercy and protection upon the kids while they were gone!

I'll save pictures from their trip and the saga of getting the van back home for other posts . . . .

MISSING MY KIDDOS SO MUCH!

Christian, Andrew and Sarah are in Michigan right now with their grandparents (Daddy Brad's parents) and I AM MISSING THEM TERRIBLY!!!!  As much as I miss them, they are where they need to be right now.  I ask anyone who is reading this to please pray for my sweet father-in-law, Jim (even though Brad is no longer living, I still consider his dad my father-in-law).  He is in the end stage of his battle with cancer and will be going home to be with his Savior soon. I told Mimi to put the kids to work while they were there, and it sounds like she has!  I checked in with them earlier this evening, and Christian said they were having "memorabilia night" and were looking at items that belonged to their Daddy Brad.

They will leave Michigan after church on Sunday with Aunt Sue and go to her house in Indiana to spend the night, and then continue on their journey home Monday.  Please join us in asking for the Lord's hand of protection to be upon them as they journey home.

The kids with Mimi and Papa in January of this year

A Less Traveled Path Explained

In case you didn't see my earlier post, "A Less Traveled Path," our family is pursuing embryo adoption, which is a little known means of adoption.  I first heard about embryo adoption several years ago when I was listening to a Focus On The Family broadcast on our local radio station.  They had an entire program dedicated to the subject and I was captivated!  I could have started the process right then and there, except that the Lord had other plans for us before we could take a journey down that path.

 So how does one goes about adopting an embryo?

WHERE EMBRYOS COME FROM

In order to know where embryos come from, you have to know a little bit about in vitro fertilization (IVF).  IVF is a process that couples who are unable to conceive by natural means go through to hopefully produce children that are biologically related to them.  Because of the method used to create* the embryos, typically there are more embryos created than can be reasonably transferred to the woman's uterus.  As an example, let's say a couple goes through the IVF process and 12 embryos are created.  In order to maximize the chances of pregnancy, three embryos are transferred to her uterus resulting in a pregnancy.  The remaining 9  embryos would be cryopreserved for their future use.  This is a very, very basic explanation of IVF with LOTS of details left out!  For our purposes, you just need to know that embryos come from IVF cycles in which there were an excess of embryos created.  For a more detailed explanation of how embryos are created during an in vitro cycle, go here.

*I fully acknowledge that no life is created unless God wills it to be so, so when I refer to "creating" embryos, it is ultimately God who does the creating, not man.

For various reasons, there are couples who do not wish to, or are not able to use the remaining embryos that have been cryogenically preserved.  There are an estimated four to five hundred thousand frozen embryos as a result of IVF in the United States.  Let me write that out for you - 400,000 - 500,000 frozen embryos.That's a lot of little snowflakes hanging in limbo!  The options these families have are 1) to destroy them  2) donate them to science 3) do nothing and they will deteriorate and die, or 4) donate them to a couple who will give them the opportunity to be born that they deserve.

That's where we come in!

OUR JOURNEY

Our infertility journey started five years ago and has included multiple failed assisted reproduction cycles.  We didn't want any regrets, so we gave artificial insemination three tries, all which failed.  We could only stomach one IVF cycle emotionally and financially, and much to our sorrow, our one and only little embryo did not implant.  I have mourned that little one just like other women who have suffered a miscarriage.  You are forever in my heart my little one, and I know you rest safe in the arms of Jesus.

The next path on our journey took us down the road of traditional adoption.  After multiple failed adoptions, God is His great mercy, grace and perfect timing brought us our precious son, Stephen Luke.  We will be writing about his story for many years to come, and an amazing one it is!

Following Luke's birth, we immediately began talking about our next adoption and what path we felt the Lord was leading us down.  We discussed embryo adoption, and the more we talked about it, the more personal experiences we read of others who had walked that path, and the more we prayed about it, we became convinced it was the right path for us to follow at this time.

In my next post on the subject, I will tell you about the embryo adoption process and where we are at on our journey.  It is moving much faster than I anticipated!  Woo hoo!

Luke's 6 Month Pictures

I JUST LOVE THESE!!!!  Thank you so much Kanella Brown!

Cousins!

Aunt Leanne and the girls were visiting Nana and Papa in Florida and stopped to have lunch with us on their way home!

Libby, Aunt Leanne, Lukey and Anna Grace

This Morning's Pickings

I guess I better get busy!

Baby's Got Blue Eyes . . . .

I love these two with their matching eyes!

On the way to Knoxville - what a great little traveler!

The new woman in Luke's life - Kristin Hawkins.  Kristin came with us on our trip to Knoxville and Luke was quite smitten with her.

Luke's first bath in the RV.  He even kept it modest!

Sweet little boy getting ready to go to bed (and happy to be in the air conditioning!).

That's our "Sky" trailer with the Excursion parked behind it.

A great view of the chompers breaking through on the top!

Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1

Luke did GREAT on our camping trip to Knoxville!  He hollered a little bit on the way up, but was quickly pacified when Kristin would poke her head around the headrest and smile at him.

Fact 2

Luke has two more teeth for a total of four!  His two top teeth came in this past week!

Fact 3

Luke prefers big people food over baby food.  I bought a few jars of Earth's Best baby food to make things easier on myself while we were camping, but Luke wasn't impressed.  He simply quit opening his mouth.  Now, if we put the food WE were eating near his mouth, he was like a little bird begging for it!

Fact 4

Luke is great in restaurants!  I put the cart cover over the high chair or booster seat to protect Lukey from all the germies, then I put a plastic cover over the table in front of him to further protect him, and then I start shoveling food in his little mouth because he LOVES to eat!  He knows that the cart cover and plastic place mat on the table mean FOOD.

Fact 5

I finally found a sippy cup that Luke likes!  I have spent a small fortune trying to find one that he would drink out of, and the winner is the Nuby!  It has a silicone top piece which he knows how to suck out of.  The plastic tops on all the others leave him confused.

Fact 6

 Luke is now doing a little move where he walks/crawls with his hands and one knee on the floor, and the other leg fully extended, pushing himself along.  I suppose he will be walking on all fours before long.  

Fact 7

Andrew saw Luke standing up in the middle of his play pen.  He got up on his hands and feet, then picked his hands up and stood there balancing.  It was short lived, but I know what is coming next!  He isn't pulling himself up to anything YET.  I bet that post is coming soon.

Fact 8

Baby gate number 1 was just installed.  We'll see how Lukey likes it (or not!) when he gets up from his nap!