For the unbelievers

So this little story is for the people who don't believe me when I tell them how ornery and naughty my sweet little Owen can be. Also for the mothers out there that only have girls....this is what you are missing.....

So the boys ate lunch today while I was unpacking groceries, and when they were done they ran to go play together in the basement playroom....So I decided to sit down and eat my lunch in peace. They had been playing nicely in the basement for about 10 minutes when I heard Ethan laughing hysterically and Owen squealing at the top of his lungs. These were the sounds that when heard, you know they are up to no good. I head down to the basement to discover water all over the carpet, and Owen is chasing Ethan with a cup from their kitchen set. Upon further investigation and interrogation....I find out that Owen has been filling this cup with water from the toilet and then chasing Ethan with it trying to dump it on him. It took about 10 minutes, several towels, and many squirts of hand sanitizer to get the carpet and Owen's hands all cleaned up. I will never stop being amazed at how fast they can make a mess, and how long it takes to clean up the mess that they made in a flash. I guess that is what I get for the quiet lunch that I enjoyed.

Oh and another note about Owen's naughty streak....When I discovered what was going on, I sternly told him "NO, NO, We do NOT play with the toilet water!" I took the cup away from him, and he chased after me trying to take it back and then hit the back of my leg when he discovered he wasn't going to get it back. Needless to say....Owen took his nap shortly after that! I think the terrible 2's have arrived just a little early.

I just love my kiddos to pieces even though they are naughty sometimes. I guess someday when they have their own kids who act naughty....I can laugh and tell them that they deserve it!

Love,

Katie

Leap of faith

I have been reading a few things lately about how God talks to us and recognizing how and when he talks to us. So I thought I would share an experience of mine on that subject.


As most of you reading this probably know, TJ and I have been talking seriously about adoption for a little over a year now. We felt tugged/led/called (however you want to say it) by God that we were meant to adopt our next child. We both felt like we needed to have the money saved first....But we also kept hearing from multiple sources not to let money be an obstacle to adopting. We heard multiple times that if this is God's plan for your family...he will make sure that the money is there. This money issue in hindsight was really just us not trusting God's plan for our family.

Well, 9 months after we decided we needed to buckle down and save money for our adoption....we didn't really have that much saved. (We have 3 kids, I work part time....and things just come up that cost money) So one night while saying my prayers, I asked God to just make it known to us how we should proceed....do we continue trying to save money, or do we just go for it?
The next morning I was reading e-mails. I always get a daily devotional sent to me from "The purpose driven life." The one for that morning was titled "God smiles when we obey wholeheartedly." Read the whole post here. Basically it said, whatever God asks you to do...you should obey and do without hesitation, because delayed obedience is really the same as disobedience. God doesn't have to give you an explanation for what he asks you to do, you may not feel qualified for what he is calling you to, it may be expensive and very demanding of your finances or demanding or your time, but your understanding of what he has called you to do can wait. However, obedience to god and what he is calling you to do can't wait. Hmmmm..........

So, no I didn't hear God whispering the answer directly into my ear....but does it get any clearer than this? I shared all this with TJ, and he agreed that was a pretty clear answer to my prayer. So with my prayer answered, we took a leap of faith that God will help us figure out the financial part of this and.....we "officially" applied to Holt International (our adoption agency.)





A little update on our adoption progress so far:

We are currently in the "paper chase" process. We have our last visit on Monday with the social worker to review the rough draft of our home study. Then we just have to finish up the last few documents for our dossier (paperwork that gets sent to China.) After we get the dossier sent to China, then we just wait for a referral. We are praying for our sweet China angel daily. Whether or not he/she has been born yet....we don't know, but we are praying that God puts someone in this baby's life to love and care for them until we can get there to bring him/her home.


Love,

Katie

P.S.- Hopefully I will get a post up soon with some pictures of the cute kiddies that are already living here at our house ;-)

Lights on....lights off

Owen discovered the other day that he could drag the kitchen chairs around and use them to reach things he otherwise wouldn't be able to reach. I caught some pictures of him finding the light switch and how much fun he had with it.





This is him when he first climbed on the chair and got his hands on the light switch for the first time....

Lights off!

Lights on!

Can you tell he was having lots of fun with this new discovery? He is to funny! Oh....and as you can see....pants are optional at our house (at least for the kids that is.)

Love,

Katie