Prayers Needed...

Things have been a little stressful since returning to work back in August. One of the reasons is because I know the company I work for hasn't been doing well. The writing was on the wall, so I was actively looking for a new job. Unfortunately, I didn't find one fast enough. I was laid off yesterday afternoon around 2:30. Like I said, the writing was on the wall, but it still came as a complete shock. I'm getting a months severance and can collect unemployment. I've never been laid off before and I've never had to collect unemployment. I don't know why the word "unemployment" feels like a dirty word to me, but it does. I guess the word scares me more! I've always had a new job lined up before leaving a company. Finances have already been tough because I was hit with a pay cut upon returning from China which basically took about 30% of my salary. The summer wasn't as fun as I had planned, but I did get to spend time with my kids. I was bitter about the pay cut, but I was thinking of my many blessings and thankful that I still had a job at this point. I knew that God would get us through this, but now my faith is truly being tested. I'm scared! I'm scared that I won't find something. I'm scared we could lose our house! I'm scared that I won't be able to provide for my children. I'm scared that I won't find a job! PLEASE pray for us! And if you are reading this and you know of a job posting that I may be interested in, please let me know. I would be happy to forward my resume which will outline 20+ years of experience.

I am thinking about how worse off things could be. We have many blessings to think about and hopefully I can keep them in mind as my mind wonders and my heart feels bitter. At least we all have our health, we have beautiful children and I have a great husband who is extremely supportive. Thank God Dave has a job! He's been able to work a little overtime, so we will have to stash that money away for a rainy day!

With all that being said, Jake and Rachel are doing great. Jake's been back to school for a couple of weeks now and he finally got to play in his first football game last Saturday. Poor thing! Jake is running for Student Council Representative and he had to give a speech in front of his class yesterday. You know, Jake is pretty unbelievable. Most kids would never get up in front of a class of peers to give a report, let alone a speech he wrote running for student council. I am so incredibly impressed by him! I believe he finds out on Thursday who won the election. He was running against another boy in his class who he believes everyone likes. Even if he doesn't win, he should be so proud of himself for trying. If he does win, this will be his second time. His first election was in third grade and he did win! YOU GO JAKE!

Rachel is progressing incredibly well. She had her well visit on Monday and even the doctor was truly amazed. Rachel is almost full walking now. Last night she walked from my dining room to the couch in the living room without falling! She probably took about 20+ steps without falling. She is now blowing kisses which absolutely melts my heart (see the video attached!) and she LOVES music. She loves to dance to music (see video!). Rachel had to have four shots on Monday and the poor thing didn't do so well later on in the day. She was becoming very cranky and when Jake went to pick her up, she screamed bloody murder! When I took her to comfort her, she screamed again in agony. Her legs were hot to touch and I could tell you had a fever. I gave her a bath and she shivered so badly that I thought she was having convulsions. Her fever got to 102.8. It took me about an hour and half to calm her down and she finally fell asleep in my arms. I was so annoyed because I called the pediatrician and it took them an hour to call me back. She woke a lot during the night and when I went in the first time around 12:15 AM or so, she was still burning up. I gave her some tylenol and I was comforting her to help her fall back to sleep. As I said good night, she smiled and waved at me. As I was walking out her door, she blew me two kisses! OMG, she's even pretty darn cute at 12:15 in the morning! She was extremely restless all night, but she was in a very good mood the next morning even still with a low grade fever. Rachel currently weighs 23 lbs and 12 ounces and is 31 1/2 inches long. She's in the 97 percentile for height and 85 percentile for weight. Go figure! Whoever thought we would get a big Chinese baby! LOL! She fits right into our family! Jake has always been off the charts with his height and weight.

Jake also had his well visit and he was 5 feet 3 1/4 inches tall and weighed 124 lbs. He has been consistently off the charts since he was 3 months old. He did loose 8 lbs since last year though! The doctor was surprised by that. I just pray that his size 11 feet slow down and he will be wearing shoe boxes to school! LOL!

Rachel is consistently learning new words. She can say baby which sounds like "ba baaaa (long a sound)" and the word hot which sounds like "haaaahhhh". She says this and points to the stove. So darn cute! Jake and I both heard her say "bye bye" the other day. That was funny because Jake and I both looked at each other with these stunned looks after she said it. I thought maybe I was hearing things. She loves to give kisses and hugs, even to dogs! LOL. We were at Jake's football game last Saturday and there was this adorable puppy and she kept leaning over going "mmmmm" which means she wants a kiss. The puppy was happy to oblige! She did it again to my sister, Debbie's dog, Tess, last night. I just can't stand when a dog licks you let alone lick you on the lips! Can you say YUCK!

Well, that's pretty much what is going on in our household. I'm loving being a mom to two kids! What tremendous blessings we were given.

Please pray that I will find a job. Please pray that it will be soon! Also, please pray for the Whitney Family who is in China getting their adorable little girl, Aidan. Their blog is http://www.whitneygang.blogspot.com/. You must go and read thier blog and follow their adoption journey.

Love you all!

RACHEL'S FIRST STEPS!

Here is Rachel taking some of her first steps. It's amazing how far our little girl has come. Almost four months ago when she was placed in our arms, she couldn't even roll over or sit up. At one year old, now look at her. We are so in love with our little ladybug. I hope you enjoy the mini clip!

I'm Surviving!

I'm surviving being back to work. I started my 4th week today and it has been a challenge, but I'm getting through it. Rachel is doing absolutely wonderful at her mommom's house. Rachel is such an adaptable little girl. My first week started off not as planned. Our first Monday morning was going great! I dropped Jake and Rachel off at mommom's and I even kept my composure when I left the house. I got choked up when I got in the car, but I reminded myself that Rachel was in good hands and I also reminded myself how blessed we are that we don't have to put her in daycare. Rachel is being cared for by someone who loves her very much while we have to work. To help me ease back into my routine and to spend a little time with Jake in the afternoon, I decided that I would only work half days my first week back to work. So I mentally prepared myself that I would only miss a few hours of Rachel and that I would see her in the early afternoon before she went down for her afternoon nap. Well, when I got into my car to head to the office, I had a voicemail from my Supervisor telling me that she was sick with a stomach bug and that I would have to work a full day. Well, I pretty much lost it at that point. Unfortunately, we have a skeleton crew in our office these days, so there needs to be coverage. I understand all that, but it still was upsetting. I couldn't wait to see Rachel and Jake at the end of my day. I really missed them and wondered how Rachel would act when she saw me. I wondered what was going on in her head when I left her and when she didn't see me for over 8 hours! I walked up to the screen door and I could hear mom talking to Rachel. I peeked into the screen door and mom was holding Rachel on the floor. When mom saw me, she said "Uh Oh, there's mommy!" Rachel looked up at the screen door and she started pointing at me and laughing. She couldn't get in my arms fast enough. She just let me hold her and laid her head on my shoulder and patted my arm. She must have stayed like that for about 5 minutes. It was so heartwarming. She missed her mommy as much as her mommy missed her! Each day she was as happy to see me as I was to see her. The following week was a bigger challenge working full days, but I got through it.

Another reason why I worked half days my first week was to spend some time with Jake. Being at mommom's with 6 toddlers and preschoolers isn't very stimulating for him. I knew he would get bored and end up being bossy with the little ones because he thinks helping. He had three more weeks before school started and camp already ended for the summer. We had a great time together. We went to the movies one day, bowling another day and we went for ice cream and a haircut another day. It was so nice spending time with him. He really is an unbelievable kid and I feel so incredibly blessed to be his mother.

You should see how bruised Jake's body is from football. I sure hope people don't think he's being abused by his parents! The bruises on his arms are horrible and I notice people staring at them. He's even had people ask what happened to his arms. I told him to start wearing shirts with sleeves so people will stop staring. They really are horrible to look at. I just pray that he doesn't get hurt. It's tough watching practice sometimes, especially when they are practicing hitting. The sound of these boys colliding sends chills up my spine. When I see them just laying there after a hit, all these horrible thoughts run through my mind. Jake seems to be enjoying it more and more. He's doing well with loosing some of the weight he needs to loose to play in games. Since the beginning of August, he's lost 8 pounds. We still have about 4 more pounds to go. I'm proud of him for sticking to water only and not eating after 7:00 PM. His first game was on August 31st and unfortunately he didn't make the weight. He had to sit out for his first game. What a huge disappointment for a kid especially after practicing 4 nights a week for 2 1/2 hours for an entire month. The team lost their first game, but hopefully they will get the next one and hopefully Jake will get to play too!

Today is Jake's first day back to school. He started 5th grade this year and honestly, that is hard to swallow. My little man is growing up! He would be mortified if he knew I called him my "little man." He had a pretty good day and seems to like his teacher. There are four Jake's in his class this year! I really feel for the teacher. You would think they would break them up a little bit. He seemed to be happy with his classmates this year. Of course he doesn't like any of the girls! I think he's putting on a front. LOL!

GUESS WHO'S ALMOST WALKING?????

Guess who is just about walking?! Yep, Rachel is taking more and more steps each day. So hard to believe how far this little angel has come since being home with us. She actually took a couple of steps on her birthday. Last night, she took about 5 steps before lunging in my arms. She's so cute and getting braver and braver each day. She is very comfortable standing without holding onto anything. She walks very well with her walking toy. It's so funny how she knows how to maneuver around furniture and whatnot. She is so proud of herself!

We officially switched Rachel from formula to milk last week and she seems to like it a lot better. I still warm it if I give it to her in a bottle, especially at night. I figure it would help her sleep if anything. Chinese children, especially those in orphanages, are used to very hot food and liquids. I've gradually reduced the temperature since bringing her home. I was so afraid her mouth would burn. I decided to give Rachel organic whole milk instead of regular store bought. There is so much controversy over hormones and antibiotics added to dairy products. I actually switched our family over to organic milk about a year ago and I feel pretty good about my choice as well. I know some don't believe that we can be harmed from hormone additives, but the information I read was too compelling to ignore. Researchers believe that these hormones are causing our children to hit puberty early, especially in females. Hey, I'm not ready anytime soon for puberty for Jake nor Rachel!

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