Thursday, August 23, 2012

Praises Everywhere!!

Get your tissues ;)



Warning: Praises falling everywhere in this post!
First, a few weeks ago Noah & I had an interesting conversation. He wanted to know if his Uncle CB (really his Great Great Uncle) whom we loved very much is in heaven. Uncle CB died about 6 months ago pretty suddenly & he was so good to my kids. I told him yes, b/c Uncle CB believed Jesus died for him and chose to follow Him. For a few months now, Noah has been asking some pretty deep questions about what it means to follow Jesus and how we get to heaven so I knew his mind was turning. Long story short, Noah decided on August 2, 2012 to follow Jesus. He prayed and told Jesus he was sorry for the wrong things he's done. He told Jesus he wanted to follow him with his whole heart. He told him he wanted to go to heaven with Him someday. My little boy decided to follow Jesus. After he prayed, we sang "I have decided to follow Jesus" so he would always remember his decision. I thank God for my little boy's heart. When I found out I was pregnant, Mike & I started praying for Noah's heart, just as we did when we found out about Laurel. I prayed God would turn Noah's heart & ears to hear the Lord. Praising God today for His goodness!

In Laurel news: Another BIG praise! Yesterday we went for Laurel's 5 week checkup for her Cochlear Implant. It was time to test to see if it was working and how well. Well.......drumroll please.... IT WORKS JUST FINE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! Praising our Great God!! Her word detection went from 32% to 56% and her Phonem detection went from 25% to 83%. Her levels are EXACTLY where they are supposed to be so they say the word detection should only get better. They say it is frequent that kids 5 weeks out get in the sound booth and give them nothing but Laurel was 100%. Their exact words "She was a SuperStar!"  Thank you for your prayers. I was able to bear witness to the audiologists and tell them all the people praying for her and praise the Lord!

So lots of praising going on around here.

Friday, August 17, 2012

3 Years Ago Today....

3 years ago today we met Laurel in her orphanage for the first time. It was exciting, exhausting & a lot scary BUT GOD gave us peace. She was our daughter. The kids & I have watched some videos I haven't watched in a very long time of the orphanage & her homecoming. I can't believe how both my babies have changed. I am blessed beyond words. Noah is the most awesome big brother. I think it affected him the most of everyone. Being away from mommy & daddy for weeks was pretty hard on him (and the grandparents I'm told! :) He gets it though. He understands the crisis of the orphan. God will bless him. Just praising the Lord today for my family!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Just being together...

Looking out our back door. That was a fun conversation to have with my 4 & 5 yr. old!

After the rain fun


Teaching Noah to skip rocks


Noah found this Black Widow under a little toad house we have. Thankfully, we've warned him about these so he didn't touch it and called me to kill it!

In their Pajamas playing Military Police. Don't you love Laurel's pink purse? It goes perfectly with her gun :)

OK so it has been a few weeks since I've posted but it isn't from lack of things going on, rather lack of time. Some nights I fall into bed exhausted not too long after the babies hit the bed themselves.  The story of any parents life right? Laurel starts her preschool in 2 weeks & we'll be on the road quite a bit this year in order to get her there and back. She will get her therapies in the classroom though so it will be worth it.
I can't believe I have a Kindergartener!! . I will be homeschooling Noah and I'll admit I was a bit nervous at first. Mike & I went to the most awesome store for homeschoolers & found some great curriculum for him. I'm totally excited about it now! There is so much freedom and so many great tools to use to teach with. I've found some things that will go great with his learning style and we will work on school stuff at the library and go to museums etc. while waiting for Laurel in her class.
I LOVE the fact that I can teach them at home. I love these little people God has entrusted to me and I love to watch them learn and discover new things.
In my next post that I can hopefully get to upload (a video) soon, I have some very exciting news about my sweet boy (think Heaven) :) .
Also, Laurel is doing GREAT with her Implant. She's totally progressing PRAISE GOD!!




Monday, August 6, 2012

Life in Mayberry

The family in front of famous Snappy Lunch. Delicious Pork Chop Sand.

We got to meet Otis!! He signed an autograph & snapped a picture with us!

On the Darling Family's porch... You know... the family that sings. And yes, Laurel is NOT happy. They'd just had a fight about who sat in what chair.

Sheriff Noah. He wanted to answer the phone "Sheriff's office". But he chickened out

The Darling's Truck. I think this was Noah's favorite thing!! He loves Bluegrass.

That smile says it all!! He's riding in the back of Barney's police car..siren and all!!


Noah got to pick where we ate. He picked The Bluebird Cafe where Barney's girlfriend Juanita worked. AWESOME Philly Cheesteak Subs!!!

So, we took a Day cation to Mayberry this past weekend.  I have always loved watching the Andy Griffith Show and it just so happens my son it addicted to it ;) Yeah me! He was so excited when we told him where we were going. I'm not sure he gets that it's fictional yet and actually cried when I told him Andy Griffith died. He went straight home and made me put on Andy Griffith Show. When he saw Andy he said "see Mommy, he's still on there!" My sweet hearted boy. His absolute favorite charachters are the Darling boys who play Mountain Music. "The Mountain Wedding" is his favorite episode. The boy can sing the theme song. We've always said he was an Old Soul! 
Rumor has it that Ernest T. Bass still runs around the streets of Mayberry and throws rocks. Noah wanted to see him but was just as happy to meet Otis. Noah thinks Otis is hillarious. He has no idea why he sleeps in the jail but thinks it's the funniest thing! 
Yes, I am one of those that wishes life were like Mayberry. Then I stop and look around and more often than not, my life is a lot like Mayberry,  with charachters and all! That's what makes life fun.