Two Little Boys

Given my last two posts, I figured this entry deserves to be a bit lighter:-). My mother in law gave me this 'story' and it really made me laugh, something I haven't been doing much of these past few days. I wanted to share it with all of you.

I've inserted what is probably my most favorite picture of Nathan and Owen to date. This picture was captured before my digital camera purchase, and being able to print ONLY the pictures that come out or those that you want. I remember buying a roll of 24 exposures in anticipation of getting a good picture for our Christmas cards. I quickly shot the whole roll and off to Walmart they went. A few days later, I went expectantly to pick up the pictures. As I went through them, one after the other I found at least one of the boys either looked goofy, stunned, perturbed, eyes closed....well, you get the idea. I was almost certain I had basically flushed money down the drain on these babies. Then, the very last picture is the one below. Definitely a blessing, and a moment I will cherish forever.
(Yes, I cried like a baby when it was time to cut those locks and give Owen a boy haircut)

And now for the story....

~Two Little Boys~

After a hardy rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys, a young mother watched her two little boys playing in the puddle through her kitchen window.

The older of the two, a five year old lad, grabbed his sibling by the back of his head and shoved his face into the water hole.

As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping, the mother runs to the street in a panic.

"Why on earth did you do that to your little brother?!" she asks as she shook the older boy in anger.

" We were just playing 'church' mommy, " he said.

"And I was just baptizing him....in the name of the Father, the Son and 'in the hole he goes'!"

James 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But he who asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.


First I'd like to thank everyone for the support they've shown us over the last few days. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who share our disappointment, and who would be willing to carry some of the pain if they could. A special thank you to all my bloggy friends who have posted heartfelt comforting words. Please know it does make a difference knowing there are such special people out there who can relate to what we're experiencing and are sending up prayers on our behalf. I thank and love you all, and I'm so very happy God has entwined our lives!

We ARE doing OK.....After all, God is so good! He is a merciful God, and one who knows what's best for us. We've been given many blessings through this event, and have felt the presence of the Lord with us. The pain in my heart has been transformed into more of a dull, distant ache that comes in waves, and at the same time feel honored in the fact that we were part of His plan for this little girl. We rejoice for two people who are now basking in the blessing of knowing they were given a daughter. Praise God!

We've been reminded of, and are thankful for the opportunity to turn to God in order to guide us through a difficult situation. We fully trust that He knows best, and take comfort in the fact that He feels and understands the pain we're experiencing. God is ever present, bestowing true peace; a peace that only He can provide. We can testify that all you have to do is open your heart and let Him. John and I continue to take refuge in our Lord, and I am beyond grateful for His love. He never lets us down!

In the end, this little girl will be part of our story, and this chapter will make the moment that we see our daughter's face, that much sweeter.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Do I hear an AMEN:-)??!!!

As I start to type, I so wish I could be writing a different story with a much different outcome. Frankly, I can't believe I'm writing this at all. I hope I can gain some sort of closure by putting this all down in words. I've never been through this before.

This morning I received a call.

THE call from our agency. When I looked at the caller ID, and saw our agency's name, the only thing that came to mind was that they must need some additional information, or there must be another change in the SN program. I was totally caught off guard when our SW stated they had a little girl they thought we would like to consider.

My mind went totally blank, and I started to shake.

Did I hear her right?

I wasn't supposed to get THIS call, for at best, another year.

Our SW found an adorable, almost two year old girl, off the common list, who's SN was a missing right hand. That's it. A missing right hand. She sounded absolutely perfect to me.

I almost couldn't speak. Our SW proceeded to give me more particulars about her, and asked if we wanted her to lock the file for a 48 hr review. I so wanted to scream YES.

Enter the problem.

John has recently lost his job, I mean VERY recently.

This CANNOT be happening. This is just too cruel. With our change in circumstance being very recent, and our homestudy not needing to be updated until Dec. We didn't yet inform our agency of our new situation. In all honesty, I was hoping John would have a new job by the time our homestudy needed to be updated, and this would be a non issue. After all, looking at referrals optimistically, we wouldn't be hearing anything until the spring of 2009.

I didn't know what to say.

I told our SW I needed to talk with John and I would get back to her.

I just started to cry. No, I started to SOB.

I pulled myself together enough to tell John, who just starred at me in disbelief.

We entered into much deliberation, tears and prayer. What do we do? Unfortunately, John and I were not on the same page. I was being totally led by my heart, and John was taking the logical, rational road. This is something we needed to be in agreement on to move forward, and in the end, I needed to defer to John's judgement. With heavy hearts, we decided, it would be best to pass given our new circumstance.

I still can't believe this has happened. My heart is broken, to say the least. I didn't know my heart could hurt and grieve so much for a child I didn't even know, or for a face unseen.

I pray even though we hurt tonight, and feel the loss of a child we never knew, that through our circumstance and inability to accept THIS child, God's plan has been fulfilled. I hope this little girl has moved closer to being united with the parents GOD has chosen for her. Though it's clouded right now, I do believe deep down, that this wasn't His timing, and He'll unite us with the child He has chosen just for us. I try to take comfort in that, though tonight I hope God understands, I can do little more than just grieve.

Little League Champs!

Legion Post 6 pulled it off and won the championship game 5-0 on Saturday!!!! All the boys did a fantastic job and finished the season winning 12 consecutive games. What a thrill! Nathan did a phenomenal job playing first base the whole game and in batting. Here are some pictures to capture the day....

Nate playing first base...
The team after the big win...

MeMere and PePere came down to share in the excitement...
Finally, a family shot of me and my guys....

Baseball Mania!

Between Little league and T-ball, it seems our family has been eating, sleeping, and breathing baseball lately! We've been quite busy, and having a lot of fun. Nathan's team is going to the Championship this Saturday, and they're entering the event winning 11 straight games....Go Legion Post 6!!! The kids have come unbelievably far since the beginning of the season. It's a great group of boys, parents, and exceptional coaches. We're all so proud:-). Nathan has decided to try for the All Star tournament team, which will play for another 4 weeks. We should hear shortly if he made the team.

Here's a great picture of Nate up to bat....
I just had to post this picture of Nate, aka "the Vacuum" on first base....do I have 'Beaver Cleaver' in a baseball uniform or what;-)?
The Team...what a great group of boys:-)....(sorry for the quality of this picture and the next, but they were hard copies given to me that I had to scan and blow up). Nathan is the first boy kneeling on the left.
And a fun 'jump' shot...

All say Owen is an up and coming star as well... here's my 'little' guy learning the basics and running the bases....

We don't know where the boys got their ability from. Neither John nor I played organized sports. Must be a recessive gene somewhere;-).

Now THIS is more like it....

Well, here it is....the new face of our blog:-) I'm so happy with how it turned out... I finally have color, and I love all the elements incorporated into this space...thanks so much Rebecca!

Stay tuned.....

I'm SOOOO excited about getting a blog makeover, designed by none other, than the very talented Rebecca! So, stay tuned.......a new face coming soon!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Yes, my baby had a birthday on Sat. and he turned 6!!!! I don't know where the time is going. Here's one of my favorite pictures of him as a baby at 6 MONTHS.....
and look at the "little" guy now at 6 Years....
Owen was all smiles when he found the lucky penny in his piece of cake. Each year my mother-in-law makes a 'money cake' for the kids. Whoever finds the lucky penny receives $5.00. It's such fun to watch the kids literally tear through the angel food cake in hopes of uncovering the shinny penny. My husband had a money cake every year growing up, though back then he points out the penny was worth much less :-). Happy birthday dear "O". We love love you to infinity and beyond!!!

Empty Nest

This was the last picture I was able to get of the three robins. At some point on Friday, May 30th, the three babies learned how to fly! The nest is now empty. There's good evidence they flew off on their own, due to the fact the nest is still perfectly in tact.

We're all very happy, but we do miss checking in on them. The timing was perfect, as we celebrated Owen's 6th birthday over the weekend, and I was a bit nervous that the babies would be scared with all the people on the deck above them. Luckily, this was never an issue.

I hope they're all doing well...growing strong....spreading their wings and flying high! Thanks to you all for following along, and I hope you enjoyed catching a glimpse of nature up close. I just love happy endings!