Surrender

There really is no greater way to introduce this post except..."Surrender." Life is often all about surrendering. Surrendering our will to God. Surrendering our rights. Surrendering our money. Surrendering our time.

I have wanted to adopt for as long as I can remember. It is my passion. It is my desire. It is my greatest wish. It would be one of the greatest gifts I could imagine.

For now...I surrender this to God. I trust Him. We have tried to adopt several times in the past few years and it has always fallen through. I know it will happen when the time is right. I know that HE works all things together for our good. Obviously, it has not been for our good yet! I believe it will be in the future.

We recently considered pursuing adoption through the foster care system. It's free, by the way! In Florida there is a Foster-to-adopt program. This means that you must qualify as a foster parent before you can adopt. This includes going through 10 weeks of classes (3 hours/week), and then completing a home study before a child can be placed with you. Therein lies the problem. With the campaign taking off, there is no guarantee that Roger would be able to attend all of the classes. We have to attend every class. If you miss, you must make it up. I really don't see how we can do it right now. If he wins, we definitely will not be able to take the classes.

So, what's next? I have no idea. And that is why I know I need to surrender this. I know that I need to take care of my husband and my children and my home and wait for God to lead us down this path when the time is right, and when the right child is waiting for us. And for now...
I will wait for that child!

I was praying about this recently. I was telling God: "You know I have the best intentions! You know we have a great family who could easily adopt and love that child as our own. There are too many children who need homes! Why should we have to wait when these children are waiting and we are willing??? This doesn't make sense!!!" And, do you know what He said?
"Haven't I always taken care of you? I am taking care of them." And so I trust Him.

Totally Awesome Launch!!!

Ian--Forty Weeks Old

I can't believe that my baby will be one in only 12 weeks! It's going too fast!!!

Ian has two teeth on the bottom and three on the top. He is almost a crawler!!! He has been getting on all fours for a few weeks, but today he learned to move his hands and knees a little. He will go a short distance and then scoot, or army crawl a little to get where he wants to go. I have been in no hurry for him to crawl. I know I am going to be even busier when this little guy is on the move!!! He has figured out how to go from his belly to sitting, but at first he would panic because he couldn't figure out how to get back to his belly. I think he has the hang of it now.

Ian--9 months old!!! (38 & 39 week updates)

My sweet baby boy is 9 months old today!!! He had his well visit today and weighed 20 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 28 3/4 inches long. He has a bad cough and drippy nose, and a red throat, and he is cutting his fifth tooth...but he is still happy!

Ian loves to roll around on his bedroom floor, but he seems to be spending more time on his hands and knees the past few days. He hasn't figured out how to crawl, but he is so close. He is sitting up well and even figured out how to go from his belly, to hands and knees, to sitting a few days ago. He still isn't a really sturdy sitter, but he is definitely getting stronger.

Ian still gets 4-6oz bottles per day...breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime. He eats some kind of baby cereal mixed with formula each morning (a small cup). For lunch he is still on stage 2 baby food and will eat 1.5 jars at each lunch and dinner. Every now and then he will eat both jars. We tried to give him stage 3 food last week, but it was too chunky and he got really choked. We'll wait a few more weeks to try it again.

Daily schedule: awake around 7:00, nap at 10, bottle at 11:30, lunch at 12:00, nap around 3:00, bottle at 4:30, dinner at 5:00, bottle at 7:30 and off to bed.

He is jabbering much more! He plays with his toys on his bedroom floor and makes all kinds of noises. He is a mommy's boy for now, but loves the entertainment he receives from his sister and brothers. He isn't lacking attention!

Ian has started showing his will. He has arched his back a few times as I was putting him in his car seat, and he does the same when he doesn't want his diaper changed. He settles down quickly, though. For the most part...he is a very happy little guy...and super cute, too!!!