Heading home

Our six-day trek back across America began yesterday, this time with three (three!) babies in the back of the van.

We're taking it slow this time. That is, if ten hours of driving in one day can be considered "taking it slow." I'm still not sure how we did it in two-and-a-half days last weekend.

We're really doing great. Baby Essie is wonderful (and gained weight at her check-up before we left. Yay!). And I'm pretty sure it's a powerful combination of grace and adrenaline that's getting us through. And videos. Not sure how parents survived before portable DVD players.

Nursing is still going well, although I can't wait to be able to do it while just relaxing on my couch. So far I've breastfed in two restaurants and one church. And I'm sure that tally will only go up over the course of the week.

We just pulled off the highway because it was snowing, and thankfully we got one of the last hotel rooms in town. Now the kids are running around our spacious room, acting a little nutso. We're hoping they wind down sometime before 2 a.m. (our expectations are very low lately).

Before I go, here are some scenes from our trip home so far, taken with my phone. Anyone recognize the house in the last one (hint - it was taken in Albuquerque)?

Introducing...

Esther Grace Therese

Born December 23

A teeny 5 lbs., 14 oz.

It's official! Well, as official as it can be before it's finalized, which won't be for several more months. It all went very smoothly, to the point that we have already been cleared to leave the state. We had prepared for a wait as long as two weeks!

We are so blessed. So, so blessed. Our little baby girl - who we call Essie, just like my grandmother Esther was called - is the most precious, calm, sweet baby (which is quite a change from our last one). She sleeps, wakes and cries a cute little cry when she's hungry and latches on likes she's been doing it for years. She even latched by herself in the dark last night! Her tongue is tied, though, so she nurses for a long time. But hopefully that will get better after it's fixed.

I also wanted to share something that happened to us right as Essie was being born. We stopped quick for Mass in the middle of Texas and when I took Luke out for being loud, I came upon a large statue in the back of the church. It was Our Lady of Grace, who I had a devotion to throughout this entire adoption journey. And by her side was a vase of roses. Roses, a sign from St. Therese. The two middle names we had already picked out - Grace and Therese - were right there in front of me, just as Essie Grace was being born miles and miles away.

 

My stress melted away. Okay, maybe that's overstating it, but I did take comfort in that sign. I knew that I would give her the name we had chosen. 

Please continue to pray for her birth mom. She is very, very special and will always be my hero.

We love you, sweet Essie. Welcome to your family :)

 

Christmas photo.. take two!

Our family Christmas photo is already a little outdated, so we took a new one this morning.

Merry Christmas from Arizona!

We're in...

Arizona!

Every so often, Ryan or I will just look around and say, "We're in Arizona. How did we get here?" The whole thing is pretty surreal.

Baby girl is latched on and nursing like a pro. I have no idea what she's getting but she's already had a couple dirty diapers so that seems like a good sign.

Oh, and look who I got to see today...

She's perfect

We met her last night at midnight and we're in love. She's absolutely amazing and beautiful. And so is her birth mom.

The kids even got to come with us to meet her. It was awesome... even though they were literally bouncing off the hospital room walls :)

And to our surprise, we're told she's coming home with us - at least to her home away from home, for now - this afternoon!

I'm going to wait to share her name and birth details until things are a little more official, hopefully in two more days.

But I will show you this for now...

She's here!

She was born earlier today, and we are racing to get to her. I've never been so happy to see 80 mph speed limits in my life!

A little over six hours to go! Although I have no idea when we'll get to see her. Praying it's soon!

And these two are pretty excited. Hot messes and exhausted, but excited...

Day two

Seven states. 16 hours. 1,150 miles. Five fast-food stops. Countless potty breaks. One spilled hot coffee debacle.

And we are only half way :)

We have eight more hours to drive today alone! Overall, the time is flying by and I can't complain. Our kids are amazing (hopefully they won't start losing it as soon as I hit "publish"). They have watched the new Thomas movie (about the new train Luke, of course) about fifty times. They love their new Leappad Explorers (don't tell them they're not iPads!) and take a good, long nap at least once a day. Oh, and Clara randomly will tell us she loves us and we'll even hear kissing noises periodically, to which we are to respond with our own kissing noises. I'm not sure how we got so lucky!

It's not all sunshine and roses, though. Luke was a bit crazy last night. We got in around 2 a.m and since the poor kid was all thrown off, he was wired and I'm pretty sure he didn't fall asleep until about five. Needless to say, the entire hotel could hear a very tired little boy screaming as we got ready this morning.

Now for what you're all probably waiting for... no baby yet as far as we know. And there's even a chance we might make it in time! But at this point, we're close enough that we won't get there too long after even if baby comes soon.

Oh, and one more thing - until around noon, we were following the same path as we did when we went to get Clara. So, for old time's sake, and because we're weird, we made a pit stop just so we could recreate a photo we took almost three years ago. The reason it's weird is because we're not Alabama fans! But apparently it has become a family tradition. And if we're passing through Tuscaloosa ten years from now, I'm making him hold her like a baby then too :)

And we're off

This morning as I was running some last minute errands for our big trip, I got a phone call letting me know that the birth mom was in labor.

Cue massive freak out.

We spent the next couple hours frantically packing (thankfully I'd done the bulk of it last night) and loading the car. Then, right before we were about to leave, I found out it was actually a false alarm. But since Ryan had already called in to work and we were packed, we just decided to hit the road anyway.

We're unshowered and none of us ate anything until 3 p.m. And you don't want to see the state I left my house in! But we're already in our second state and the kids are sound asleep.

It was really such a blessing that this happened like this, because now we are on our way (I hated the wait!) and we don't have to rush. And now if we find out that she's in labor, then we already will have a head start.

It's the first I've relaxed in days.

And we're blessed to have amazing friends helping us out. Our good friend (and fellow blogger) L is watching our dog. I cannot tell you what a gift that is. And our friends E and S (who may be reading this! Hey there!) are watching our house.

We hope to get to Atlanta tonight. And in about an hour we'll be making our first pitstop, at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The adventure has officially begun!

The Trip

Our trip to meet the baby who will likely be Baby #3 just got bumped up by a few days and we are now leaving on Saturday. As in the day after tomorrow.

I have been packing all night. My kids found their presents laying around amid the clutter and chaos and so I just excitedly declared, "Merry Christmas!" They were overjoyed with their DVDs, kiddy headphones and sleeping bags. All things specifically selected for the road trip.

Yes, we're driving. That's probably not as shocking to you now as it will be when you find out where we are going (which I'll reveal when we get there. Still just want to keep things quiet for a few more days). If we flew, we'd have to pay for seats for both of the kids. And the children would outnumber us on our home. And not taking them wasn't an option for me, especially during Christmas. I want to go as a family, to bring home their new sister. Plus, I wasn't about to wean Luke cold turkey. Thanks for helping me build my supply back up by nursing three times a day lately! You're all done with that now! Forever!

Speaking of which, did I mention I'm going to try to nurse the new baby? I think my supply is fairly good, I've never had a problem with it, and hopefully it will increase with a newborn's demands. I haven't pumped yet to see what I have, though. I might try that tomorrow. But Luke never complains. I went to a La Leche League meeting yesterday but, honestly, my issue is so specific that it wasn't exactly a great group discussion topic. Basically, I'm going to try to nurse, but not get my hopes up too high. I've already had a formula-fed baby and if I have to supplement, it will be alright. 

So leaving on Saturday means we'll spend Christmas at our destination. We're taking down our tree tonight (so weird!) and bringing a few wrapped presents that my parents already sent them. I think it will be exciting. I'm always up for an adventure, and this will definitely be an adventure! And I love hotel rooms. Love them. Although I'm not sure I will have the same affection when my kids are screaming at 3 in the morning. But I guess that's when I'll pull out the baby ipad thingies they'll be getting for Christmas tomorrow (thanks, Nana and Boppy!). 

Alright, back to packing. We have no idea how long we'll be gone. ICPC, which has to be cleared before you can leave the state, can take three days or two weeks. You just never know. 

The entire thing is exciting, overwhelming, nerve-wracking, thrilling, and scary, all wrapped into one. My emotions are all over the place, to say the least. 

Would you please, if you get a chance, say a prayer for the birthmother, the baby girl, for our safe travels, and the whole adoption situation? And for my nerves, if you don't mind. I really, really appreciate it!

Christmas morning Thursday night in our house. Merry Christmas, guys!

Oh, and because it's kind of a family tradition, I'll be blogging during our trip. So check back starting this weekend!

How we're waiting

In our home, we're waiting not-so-patiently for Jesus' birth and the birth of another little baby thousands of miles away whose arrival could come at any second (Ahh! Please join me in praying we have a few more weeks!).

So to get my mind off of things, I have spent what seems like every free moment, as of late, planning for Advent fun. Only problem - I didn't finish until the seventh day. That's okay. You can get away with a lot when you're kids are still very young :)

Because money is tight as you prepare for an adoption (especially when there's no tax credit any longer - thanks congresspeople!), you've got to be creative. So I made this Advent calendar from my sewing scraps...

When I finished it (it took a lot longer than I expected) I realized I had no idea what to do with it! I pictured the actual calendar I wanted, but I hadn't gotten as far as what to put in the pockets. So the first day I tried little chocolate Santas, just until I could come up with something a little more, well.. spiritual.

But it took all of five minutes for Clara and Luke to find the chocolate and ransack the calendar.

So I scoured the internet and came up with activities and crafts for every day. Or almost every day. It's a work in progress.

The first day (which was really the seventh day), we made our Advent wreath. This is about as low-budget as you can get with an Advent wreath...

The foam circle cost about a dollar at the craft store (all my Advent supplies added up to $11 total), and the candles are leftovers from birthdays past. I couldn't believe we had three purple and a pink! The kids painted it and then we waited, a loooong time. Apparently poster paint on a foam floral thingy takes like 12 hours to dry.

Today, in honor of the Immaculate Conception feast day, we made rosaries out of pipe cleaners and beads. I found the idea here.

They LOVED making them. We seriously made like ten.

At one point, Clara looked at me and said, "Mommy, I love you. And I love making Rosaries."

You obviously have to be careful with the beads, but I discovered we're finally at a point where neither kid attempted to put them in their mouth. Score! I still won't ever leave them alone with the Rosaries, though. And we'll soon find out if they try to take them apart during our nightly decade.

One thing's for sure - I have a feeling they're going to ask me to make Rosaries again soon.

Also in today's pocket - watch a Christmas movie tonight with popcorn. Can't wait! And tomorrow we learn to sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and light the wreath (let's hope the foam part doesn't go up in flames!).

What are you doing for Advent? Anything I can steal? ;)

Adoption

I have alluded to it a little, asked for your very generous prayers, and remained pretty vague thus far, but I thought I'd share just a little more information on the topic.

If all goes as planned, we will welcome Baby #3 sometime in the next month.

This situation happened much like Clara's did. Well, many parts were very different. But, like hers, it was sudden, surprising, and a big old web of grace. 

And we became involved, once again, because of an amazing blogger friend. We should seriously be the poster-family for growing your family with the help of social media!

I just wanted to tell you all about this now, officially, because there has been a lot I've wanted to say about it (obviously this has been a huge part of our lives as of late!) and there has been a lot I've wanted to ask you for advice on too, yet I wanted to keep it quiet for a while. We are working on travel plans right now (the baby will be born many states away from us), as much as you can plan for something like that. We are also nearly home study approved (just waiting for CPS to clear, that is all!), which has been quite a whirlwind. If you had told me six months ago that we'd complete a home study by the end of the year, I would have thought you were totally and utterly crazy. And yet, God continues to surprise me. After Clara and Luke, you'd think that I should expect God's surprises at this point!

Even still, it is hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that this is happening. At times, it wasn't looking very likely, so we decided to just go as far as God would take us. And here we are, just a few weeks away. Just as with Clara's adoption, my prayer was for God to open doors if this was His will. Well, so far not only have doors swung wide open, but it's like we've been on one of those people-conveyer-belts at the airport. We haven't even had to do the walking. 

So we continue on this path, as far as God will take us. We continue to pray for the mom, the baby girl, and for God's will to be done. We thank you so much for all the prayers you have said for us so far. And if you get a chance this Advent, please say another prayer for this situation if you can.

Birthday fatigue

Birthday week is over in our house. And thank goodness, because I'm pretty much wiped out. 

You would be, too, after watching this for hours... 

Okay, we only stayed about 30 minutes but that was long enough. What is it about bouncy house places? It's Clara's absolute favorite place on earth so we went on her birthday. But my gosh. It is one scary place on a Saturday. Just ask Ryan, who probably won't go back again without first taking a valium.

Case in point, here is our sweet, innocent Luke before he took an elbow to the eye in the "3 and under" bouncy castle...

We can only assume it was an elbow to the eye because, after all, you can't see into those things (except for the toddler one pictured above, which they are NEVER leaving if we go back). Just as Ryan was nearly visibly shaking and begging me to get the kids and leave, we suddenly heard screams. We immediately knew they were Luke, and the next thing I know Ryan is ripping his shoes off (which surprised me that he respected the no-shoe rule) and rescuing him.

He was fine. But I'm not sure his father is.

We had a little party later that day for both of the kids. Here's Clara's cake, which she requested...

Someone remind me to make a cake next year that I don't like. Like a white cake with white frosting, or something involving cinnamon. And most definitely don't let me make this cake, unless I'm trying to bulk up for a movie role around that same time.

It also doesn't help when your husband is starting a weight loss challenge at work and won't eat any of said cake. I love it when I'm the only one eating something so I know exactly how much I've had. That's awesome. At least I've been giving the kids some, but they just aren't putting it away like I'd like them to.

Of course there was a lot of adorable-ness at the party. And more photos for the rehearsal dinner slide show. This might also be perfect for the engagement announcement or the wedding programs. So many options.

We couldn't stop laughing at this one. For some unknown reason, I have been teaching Clara to pose with her hand on her hip. This is her interpretation...

I'm going now to go throw the rest of the cake out. And it's going down the disposal so I can't fish it out of the garbage. NOT that I'd do that. As Clara would say, that's gross.

Oh, and I have a three-year-old. Happy birthday, my little sweet girl!

If I can do it...

We've had a very special guest staying with us for a couple of weeks. She's a couple feet tall, wears a blue mantle, and sits high on our mantel.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a traveling Our Lady of Grace statue found its way to our home recently. And she couldn't have come at a better time, which shouldn't surprise me in the least.

The kids were very excited to have her and I decided to start saying one decade of the Rosary every night with them while she's here.

Let me first say that as much as I wish we were one of those families who says a family Rosary, we are not. I think maybe we had previously said it a total of two times together with the kids, and that was before they were toddlers because I have no memory of trying to contain them during it. And I'd remember that, let me tell you.

But I have always loved the sound of it. We're about to say our Family Rosary....We say a Family Rosary....Once, during our Family Rosary...

Bedtime prayers were enough for me. I always think how if a non-Christian neighbor happened to be listening in on me during our nightly prayer time, it'd probably be enough for them to never convert. Stop that right now and tell Jesus you love him!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure I come across as a poster-child for the faith.

So a part of me probably thought I had lost my mind when I decided to start saying a decade a night. It's hard enough doing bedtime on my own (Ryan works evenings) with a boy who hates sleeping, but to add this into the mix? But I think that was key - we'd say just a decade. It's manageable. The perfect amount of time. And we'd light candles. Oh, the candles. I knew that I'd get them with the candles.

And I was right. It's not just the lighting, but the promise of blowing them out at the end. Like a mini-birthday every night. But only if they sit nicely and pray (there's a LOT of wiggle room in that, though.. usually as long as they engage in a couple prayers and don't do anything naughty, they get the big reward).

It's been amazing. Crazy. There's still some yelling to be heard. But amazing.

They're supposed to stay on the couch due to the candles. That usually lasts 30 seconds.

I really think they like the ritual of it all. Pulling Mary down, setting up the candles, lighting them, picking out their Rosary. They look forward to what's coming. And I discovered that first night that they know the Apostles' Creed. I don't even have that memorized! They must have learned it from their favorite videos, or else have been sneaking that copy of the Baltimore Catechism we don't have in our house. No, I'm not on the company's pay roll, I swear, but seriously. I'm not kidding when I say I never learned that prayer by heart. And my TWO-year-olds know it. Clearly, TV isn't all bad.

Sorting out Rosaries, a constant task during prayer time

Don't get me wrong, they're not perfect angels while we pray, but they are surprisingly well behaved. And by "well behaved" I mean only sometimes does Luke use the Rosary as a weapon. And by "weapon" I don't mean the spiritual kind.

I truly believe they are receiving graces from it. I think we all are. It happened to coincide with a time when we really stepped up our prayers for a specific intention having to do with our possible adoption, and I believe it helped. Luke has also been going to bed better since we've been saying the Rosary. Sure, it might be a coincidence, but maybe not.

My kids have always had a devotion to Our Lady. They talk about her, they are excited to see images of her, and ask about her . I didn't do anything to start that, they just have always been that way, especially Luke. Now, when we start talking about bedtime, they immediately ask, "Are we going to say the Rosary?" Or, during the day, Luke will spot her up on the mantel and beg to get her down to pray. It's awesome. And I really hope it lasts. Which is why I want to help foster it now.

He told me he was "skating" for her here

Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can. I have little patience when it comes to praying. I'm not sure why, I have just always been that way. It's hard enough to concentrate on my own, let alone trying to wrangle two toddlers to pray with me. But now that we pray the Rosary, my patience is growing. Amid the chaos, I love our nightly Rosary time. I look forward to it. We say it even if it's late. I don't feel the need to rush. And I always feel great after.

And even though Our Lady of Grace will be leaving us soon, we're going to keep up our nightly decade. I don't think the kids would let me stop.

I swear we don't pose for pictures with her all the time

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Turning two

Two, already? 

In many, many, many ways it seems like he's been two for at least six full months now. But in other ways, it is just so hard to believe that two years have gone by since that Thanksgiving night I laid awake in a labor and delivery room anxiously anticipating my 4 a.m. wake up call to start the induction. 

Two years later, that Black Friday baby is a crazy little bundle of sweetness, silliness and strong-will, all wrapped into one red-haired boy. 

To celebrate his second birthday, Luke asked for a train cake. And a train cake he received. 

He just had the best expressions today.

In keeping with the train theme (which is kind of the theme of our life right now with two toddlers), his big present this year - because apparently the two-year birthday is the wooden-refurbished-Craigslist-find birthday in our house - was a train table.

I stalked Craigslist for weeks until I found just what I was looking for - an old, classic, sturdy, solid-wood table for a very cheap price. This one cost me $30.

I sanded it down, painted the table white, and then painted a map of Richmond onto the removable top.

There's still a reverse side I could do something with (original plan was to use chalk-board paint but I've scrapped that idea for now), and the table itself is just a great table even when the top is off. All in all, an awesome Craigslist find at a fraction of the cost of a new table.

It's safe to say Luke was pretty thrilled with his present.

The trains and track I bought off of Craigslist too, at more than half-off the original prices. Have I mentioned how much I love that site??

Someone else is also pretty into the train table. In fact, they played with it every waking moment today.

Clara even snuck out of her bedroom late tonight and unlocked Luke's door (the lock is backwards) and I found them playing inside his room. I'm glad they love it, but that's not exactly what I had in mind!

Crazy bed time aside, it was a perfect day, with a very happy two-year-old.

He even waited until 8 o'clock tonight to eat his train cake that he had been dreaming about all day.  After his first bite, he declared, "Mmmm, so good!" Just what a mommy wants to hear.

And, even better, when he was face-timing with his aunt and uncle today, he was showing them the cake and he proudly told them, "Mommy made that for me. Mommy made that for Lukie." Aw. What's better than that? It makes yesterday's all-day cake baking/decorating extravaganza (in which I swore off of sugar for the rest of my life) completely worth it.

Happy birthday, sweet Lukie!

Today was also a big day for our potential upcoming adoption. We don't know anything official, but we were counting down to this day for a long time and we think it's good news. Sorry to still be so vague, but we so appreciate your prayers and would love if you could keep them up on our behalf. Thank you!