The First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face

As I remember our adoption 5 years ago, I have been looking through pictures.  These photos are the glimpses we had of Isaiah and Laila before we met them.  When I look at these pics, I see furrowed brows, bloated bellies, and 2 little ones waiting to be in a family.  It is hard to believe that these are the same kids that have been in our family for 5 years.  Some of the pics are a bit blurry.  Sorry about that.

 THOSE. CHUBBY. CHEEKS!!

 Laila after her check up as they got her ready for adoption

 Ms. Maureen loved her so well!

 Based on the size that she was when we got her, I think she spent a lot of time eating in this chair!!

 Sad little face

BE. STILL. MY. HEART!

There's that smile we all know and love

 Isaiah at his doctor check up

 He doesn't like being pricked

 Look at his little belly.  So heartbreaking!!

 The really beautiful part to me is that the story doesn't end there!!  I will share pics of while we were in Africa completing the adoption and our homecoming next!!

The First 5 Years of Forever

This is a big week in our family.  5 years ago this week, we finally brought Isaiah and Laila home to be a part of our family.  It was the ending of an exhausting journey and the beginning of a new adventure as a family of 8.  I have been looking through some pics from that first year.  Can I just say, that I literally have a physical response in my body when I look at these pics. They melt me into a big ole puddle.  I am pretty much a mess right now as I think about the Swazi journey God has taken us on.  I am going to share  pics throughout this week as we remember and celebrate all that God has done!!

 This is one of my absolute favorites, their first time putting up the Christmas tree with us!

 Seriously, look at that baby boy

 I can't take it!

The best Mothers' Day of my life.  Just a couple of weeks after we brought them home.  

Tales of our teeth

The dreaded day arrived.  It was time for Lauren to get her braces.  She proclaimed beforehand that she would not be smiling for any pictures for the next 2 years until they were removed.  

I got one last smile from her as a BEFORE pic:

 I got some great pics of the process which she quickly told me I was not allowed to post.  

I convinced her to let me at least get an AFTER pic to text to her dad.  After all, he did pay for these braces.  He should have a pic.  I eventually convinced her to let me share it on here.  

So, here she is:

 I think she looks great, and I think she is relieved that it is not as bad as she thought it might be.  She was sore for about a week and dealing with the newness of figuring out how to eat with all this stuff in the way.

Laila has had her own tooth drama going on.  This chick has lost 3 of her front teeth in the last couple of weeks.  Even though she is supposed to be about 8 when she loses those front two teeth, they are on their own time schedule.  Isaiah lost his early, too!  Now, we are left with one tooth dangling in the front.  It is not the most attractive sight to behold.  We are praying it lets go soon!

Here is my silly girl with her silly tooth:

 I have bribed her in many ways to convince her to let us pull this one out.  I don't see how it can hold on much longer.  Pretty soon she will enter the adorableness that comes along with missing those two front teeth.  She lost them so early, we are just praying there will be enough room for the new ones to come in without creating a ton of crowding.

Isaiah's and Laila's baby teeth were so straight and pretty.  We thought we might have escaped the orthodontics route for them.  These big teeth coming in are proving to not be nearly as cooperative.

We are destined to pay for braces for 6 children!!

A Hard Life

At church on Sunday, during their response time, the kids were told to fill out this paper describing a hard thing in their lives and how God could help in this situation.  Here is Isaiah's paper:

It says:  The hard thing in my life right now is hard to choose between video games and TV.  Which one do I choose?  I don't know which! 

His answer to how God could be in this situation:  God please help me!

I had a hard time not laughing at this.  I have to admit that it was nice to see that this is the biggest problem in his life.  I suspect that would not be the case if he was still in Africa.

As we approach the 5-year mark in having them home next week, I am deeply grateful that God called us to this amazing journey!

Spring Break in the Mountains

We were so blessed over spring break to be given the opportunity to go to the mountains for a few days.  Let me tell you, it couldn't have come at a better time.  Rick had been working many long days over the last couple of weeks.  Our kids have been fighting a lot.  We were all exhausted.  Some good concentrated rest and family time was definitely in order.  We returned to the amazing cabin that friends of ours have so generously allowed us to use.  It wasn't too far of a drive, but far enough away to escape our everyday stress.  

We began our first night with pizza

 Cody on the deck

  Rick cooking big breakfast

 There are lots of fun games and puzzles to do.

 These 3 put together a very difficult Coca Cola puzzle

 Complete!

 We did our 2nd Installment of "Minute 2 Win It" Games

How many noodles can you get on the skewer in one minute?

Make a pyramid with 28 cups  and stack them back in one minute!

Photo Bomb

 Pull the index cards out while leaving the cups in a stack

No one was able to complete this one

 Isaiah didn't quite understand

 See how many ping pong balls you can bounce into the cups in one minute

 Get pennies one by one out of the pantyhose

 There was a fabulous game called "Junk in the Trunk" that I was not allowed to photograph. 

It involved a tissue box full of ping pong balls strapped to our booties.  We had to see how many ping pong balls we could shake out of the box in one minute. 

Here are the winners:  First place-Rick, 2nd place-Lauren, 3rd place-Cody and we gave a consolation prize for last place that went to Laila

 We ended the night with Pepsi/Dr. Pepper/Root Beer floats

One of the days, Rick took some of the kids sledding.  It turned out to be more like snow surfing by looking at the videos.  These two stayed back with me.  We played several rounds of "Loopin' Louie" and a rousing game of "war"with cards.

Laila brought her robe with her so she could relax.  (sorry about the snotty nose)

 We spent lots of time on this amazing couch playing a very volatile game of Phase 10 and watching many movies.

 We headed into Woodland Park one night for dinner at a Mexican restaurant

 Lauren's Super Burrito

There were many more moments of fun and quite a few moments of drama which just comes with the territory and dynamics of our family these days.  I chose to relax more and take pictures less.  I did a lot of reading.  There was napping, chocolate chip cookies, a morning with Mega Donuts from the Donut Mill, lots of pajama wearing, iPod playing, music listening and dance partying.  We got a break from the outside world, internet, and the crazy schedule that we usually keep where we are all going in different directions.  Everyone stayed healthy and there were no emergency trips home this time.  All-in-all we were thankful for this nice break for the family.