Our Happily Ever Afters

I need your help!

2012-02-01T22:46:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
My sister Andrea is writing her Junior paper, and her topic is how the media has affected women and how we view ourselves. She's needing an interview for her paper, and she would specifically like to hear from someone who has survived anorexia and/or bulimia. The interview would be done via email. Obviously this is a very sensitive topic, but I was thinking that surely there are a few women who read this blog that have battled this or know someone that would be willing to share their testimony.

If you can help, please email me ASAP (the address is in my sidebar). Thank you in advance!

11 Things

2012-01-31T01:57:00.002-06:00

I was tagged by Kelly to give 11 random things about myself and answer some questions. Sometimes I'm just in the mood for a good prompt, so here we go. :)

11 Random Things About Myself

1. I truly used to think there was a high probability I would marry someone from another country, or maybe a different ethnic background. No idea why - maybe it's because I adore traveling so much? Kurt and I joke about this all the time and we say that since I married the All-American guy, he'll just need to take me more places. Ha!

2. I've come to accept that I'll never truly LOVE the act of cooking, nor will I ever make anything gourmet. I'm totally and completely okay with this. It's just not me, and that's okay.

3. I value alone time more than people probably think. I spend the hours of 9pm - 1:30/2:00am completely alone and it's very refreshing for me.

4. Which brings me to the topic of my bedtime. My friends think this is completely and totally bizarre, but I'm just a night owl. I stay up until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning, and we (me and the kids) sleep until 9:00am or so. This schedule works for us, and that's all that matters.

5. Kurt and I are constantly evaluating where we should serve in ministry at church. We are involved in a lot of things, but we're always in some sort of conversation about what should be our primary focus.

6. I'll go ahead and sneak this in, because I didn't want to dedicate a whole post to it. I was scheduled to have lunch with the Duggar family on December 2nd in Arkansas (I was going to make a trip to see my grandparents). Long story short, we decided to reschedule because of Liam just returning home, and we were going to aim for February. Then Michelle's miscarriage happened, so I'm just lying low and we don't have anything rescheduled at this point. But Jim Bob gave me Michelle's number, and I've texted with her. :) We were connected through my grandfather, and I'm just privileged to say that I've texted with Michelle Duggar!! I'm not sure if/when a get-together will happen, but that's a pretty good unknown fact about me that I've been saving for a rainy day. :)

7. The latest things I've bought on iTunes: Carpenters Anthology, Audrey Assad's album, Neil Sedaka Greatest Hits, and the Carpenters' Now and Then album.

8. I listened to an audiobook for the first time (as an adult) on my way home from visiting Mississippi recently. I listened to Tina Fey's Bossypants and was incredibly, incredibly surprised at how compelling it was. There were moments when I absolutely died laughing out loud, and then there were moments when I thought, "that's a really deep, amazing statement she just made." There are a few choice words used, but overall it was a wonderful first experience for an audiobook.

9. House Hunters is my background noise of choice.

10. I somewhat often go to our antique stores in town and buy a few vinyl records each time. I adore them. I have a weird fear that my children won't know these artists unless I show them the original albums and they're so cheap to buy. My favorite thing is to bring them home and play them on our record player. The crackling sound is delicious.

11. Have you seen all of those videos circulating called "Stuff _____ Say?" (Except 'stuff' is really a choice word.) Like Stuff Sorority Girls Say, etc.? When I visited Mississippi (post coming soon), Carrie and SD and I came up with "Stuff Bloggers Say." We didn't make a video, but I think the list is pretty dad gum funny. I'm afraid if I post it then no one will think it's funny and I'll feel so embarrassed. But just trust me - it's a great list.

11 Questions to Answer:

1. What is your guilty pleasure TV show?
I have entirely too many. It usually involves the word "reality." However, there are some great scripted shows I love.

2. Name one song that you like to jam out to that is totally embarrassing.
Anything by SClub 7! However, I don't consider this embarrassing. I've always been this way - my music tastes are very odd for my age bracket and always have been.

3. Where do you want to send your kids to school? Public/private/homeschool?
We plan on homeschooling our kids. Along with the spiritual reasons, it really fits the lifestyle we want for our family perfectly.
4. One food you will never grow tired of?
Little Toyko Japanese Steakhouse in Ridgeland, Mississippi. I honestly think it would be my last meal if I could choose.

5. What is your favorite Pinterest search?
I don't know about what search, but I have really loved Pinterest lately! Child birthday parties, recipes, dream home ideas, DIY projects. . .I really love it ALL. How is that website so addicting??

6. Did you order Girl Scout cookies? If so what kind?
Yes! However, I haven't been approached this year so I might need to seek out a little Scout. Love Thin Mints the most.

7. What color do you decorate with most?
Hahaha, well I'm not naturally drawn to a lot of color so the word "neutrals" comes to mind. However, I love accenting with a robin's egg blue.

8. Which store is a total guilty pleasure?
I adore Riffraff in Fayetteville, Arkansas!

9. What are your favorite baby names?
Since we aren't done having kids, I'll keep them a secret for now. :)

10. What is your dream home vision?
Well you can just look at my Pinterest board dedicated to this topic - ha! We want to eventually build on a little bit of land, and the style will be English. We love a combination of a cottage and country house feel. I also have a lot of movie houses I love, and I'm planning on doing a post highlighting them!

11. Is your current job your dream job?
YES. I've dreamed my whole life of being a wife and mom, and it's been everything I dreamed of and more. The best moments are the little moments, when it dawns on me that I used to imagine being an adult when I was very young, and here I am, an adult. I used to wonder what my husband and children would look like, and I know now. It's wonderful. :) Aside from this, if I had to choose another profession, it would be some type of theater performance, hands-down. Not hard to figure out!

Feel free to participate if you feel so led!

The Theatah, The Theatah. . .

2012-01-30T14:31:00.000-06:00

What's happened to the Theatah? (Can you name that movie quote/song? The answer is at the end of the post.)

We've got two theater-related things going on around here.....

First of all, I am INCREDIBLY proud of my sister Andrea for winning the role of Golde (the mother) in her high school production of Fiddler on the Roof! (Sidenote: I was privileged to see Topol in Fiddler on the Roof, and I have strong sentiments about the Jewish heritage, so this show is extra special for me.) When she decided to try out, she came over for me to coach her audition material. We worked on singing the two audition selections and then she brought home the script selections for the reading part. As much as I think my sister would've made a great Tzeitel (or any of the sisters, for that matter), when she started reading the part of Golde, I had this feeling. That part is the comic relief of the show, and my sister does that sort of thing SO well (she was the Stepmother in Cinderella and it was the same type of part). I told her that I just had this gut feeling that she would make a wonderful Golde. And look what happened!! I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see her in this role!

The other bit of news: Mr. Dumey (our Junior High music director) has asked me to basically co-direct this year's show with him! This is a huge, huge deal because he has never had an "assistant" so to speak. His father has been ill and he wants to make sure he can spend as much time with him as he needs. I'll be on the judging panel for auditions, and I'll run the rehearsals when he's not able to be there. This year's show is Annie, and auditions start tonight! I'm so excited to be a part of this, because Mr. Dumey instilled in me a love of the theater when I was in 7th grade. I know what an impact that first show had on me, and I can't wait to see some of these kids grow to love it like I do. I'm honored that Mr. Dumey would ask me to have such an active part in this production!

The sun'll come out tomorrow!

(The answer to the trivia question at the beginning: The song was "Choreography" from the movie White Christmas!)

Thirty-One!

2012-01-25T13:02:00.001-06:00

I am now officially a.......

I never thought I would do something like this, but I seriously adore Thirty-One products! And, to be honest, the startup kit is what sold me (I am getting the Spring 2012 startup kit, and let me tell you - the patterns are AWESOME!). You may already have a Thirty-One consultant you love, but if you don't, I would LOVE to be yours! You can shop my site any time and I will soon be doing online parties. The Spring line will be released in February (I believe) and as I said before - my startup kit is proof that there are adorable colors and patterns. I would love to work with you and let you gain rewards for being a hostess. And if you would like to get the awesome startup kit (a lot of products for a hugely discounted price) and earn some extra income, you can sign up under me and I will be your Sponsor. :)

The most important thing to me is that no one ever feels pressure from me to buy anything. I am NOT a pushy person, and that's what has turned me off in the past to direct sales. However, I do think these are wonderful, useful, and super cute products that everyone can use. I really think it sells itself. Again, I would love to work with anyone who is interested and it would be great for some of you to help build my team!

If nothing else, Thirty-One is a fun hobby that offers great merchandise. Most importantly, it's a faith-based company and that makes a huge difference to me (the name itself is taken from Proverbs 31). I truly wouldn't be a part of something that I didn't fully support. I'm looking forward to being with Thirty-One!

My Beloved

2012-01-22T14:19:00.000-06:00

Pause my playlist in the right-hand column to hear the video.

This morning I sang the song "My Beloved" by Kari Jobe in church. Long story short, there were a lot of factors today that made it difficult to sing (medical emergency in the service - right before I sang, couldn't hear the monitor, etc.). However, without even planning it, this song correlated perfectly with my Dad's message this morning. He is in a series called RSVP: The Ultimate Invitation, about how we are to be living an inviting lifestyle that draws others to the Lord. Today's sermon was about how God is an inviting God Himself, and He desires for us to come and rest in His love. I was scheduled to sing this song before we even knew what series this would be, so God was definitely at work in how He orchestrated the messages in word and song. :)

Miscellaneous!

2012-01-21T01:10:00.000-06:00

-I feel like it's been FOREVER since I posted! We've been busy with lots of things. It's kind of been
"friend" week around here - we kept Little Friend Jacqualyn while her Mommy had a hair appointment, and we kept Little Friend Wyley because his Mommy and Daddy were moving into their new house! I'll share pictures from our friend escapades soon.

-For the first time, except my London semester, I'm not watching the Bachelor. Personally, Ben is the most annoying young man I think I've seen in a long time. But word on the street is that Emily Maynard is the next Bachelorette - now THAT is a season worth watching!

-I have become so fond of following Plimoth on Twitter. It's officially the Twitter of Plimoth Plantation, but they share actual diary excerpts from when the Pilgrims first arrived. For instance, today they shared what the Pilgrims recorded on January 20th. Isn't that awesome?! It's the smallest yet most fascinating discovery I've made in awhile.

-This was me and Evy Katie today.

-Tonight I decided to do Adele/Duffy-inspired hair. I'm personally obsessed with Duffy's new song "Breath Away." I have a penchant for British girl singers with vintage-inspired voices who also style themselves accordingly.

-My sister took pictures of the things I made her for Christmas, inspired by Pinterest (what else?)! By the way, you can find me on Pinterest - my username is AshLancaster85.

Clipboard made with Mod Podge and scrapbook paper. Stationery ordered from Etsy.

Melted Crayon art and Crayon wreath.

-Evy Kate turns 3 on February 9th. I am in complete denial. However, the birthday must happen, so we're having a Princess/Royal-themed birthday party! Evy is so excited about her party. She is just so giddy! I got her invitations from Vistaprint, and I LOVE how they turned out! I use them a lot because of their great prices and you have the option of uploading your own design to have printed (invitations, etc.). However, they had this ready-made template and I just knew it was perfect! I can't wait to celebrate Evy Kate and the incredible JOY that she is to our lives!

-I'm in the process of planning two showers for friends! One is for the Underwoods who are adopting a precious 8-year-old little girl from Ethiopia. The neatest thing is that they already have an 8-year-old daughter, and she is so excited to have a "twin" sister coming! I'm also coordinating a baby shower for our friends the Stephens. "Miss Jessica" is a consistent, loving face in our preschool area at church and every child LOVES HER. We all call her the baby whisperer - ha! She is one of the only people, other than family, that I feel 100% comfortable leaving my kids with. Jessica and Jason are expecting little Mercy Grace and I can't wait to have this shower. I love planning for things like this. :)

There's probably more random things I could think of, but that's a long enough post for now. We're just enjoying January and staying busy!

New Year, Fresh Start and a Bible App

2012-01-15T16:16:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but I have been LOVING January this year! For some reason, I was just really ready to get organized and get going on the new year. I've been doing some things to get my life in order and I wanted to share!

-I wish I had a picture for you, but I've created a Home Management Binder! I have come to LOVE The Nest Effect, and Tiffany has an Etsy store where you can buy her printables for your binder. I've seen and attempted several organizational binders before, but this one is seeming to stick (so excited)! I bought the printables to make my binder and have been SO pleased so far. It's still in process, but just writing things down in ONE PLACE has made a huge difference. For example, there's a section to list all of your Organizational Projects that you'd like to do. No pressure to organize the "how" and the "when," but they're all simply listed so I can give my brain a rest from trying to remember them all. There are printables for literally anything you could think of or need. I loved the process of putting my binder together, too!

I bought a colorful, sturdy binder at Target like these:

And then I got these pens by Paper Mate:

And I've been organizing ever since! Tiffany gives great explanations of her binder here. I know this will be a great help to me this year!

-I had gotten the Erin Condren Life Planner for a great deal several months ago. The Life Planner has month-at-a-glance calendars, but then also gives a day-by-day calendar too. I found that it was just too much for me. I didn't need every single day outlined. I was able to use another coupon code and I switched to the Month-at-a-Glance Planner. I feel like it simplified things and I've been very happy with it! Sidenote: Tiffany offers Calendar printables to go in your binder, but I wanted a separate, smaller calendar book that I could carry a little more easily.

-Back to The Nest Effect. :) I've been browsing the site and I started to wonder to myself, what makes this different from other home/organization blogs? I think the difference, for me, is that Tiffany gives very specific ways to conquer a project. For instance, she talked about the simple task of organizing your magazines. I DESPERATELY needed to do this, but it was just daunting. After reading about Tiffany doing it, I went and got started and was so pleased with the amount I was able to accomplish. I'm the type of person who needs a step-by-step, detailed list of what to do, and this helped me in a huge way.

-This is not related to organization, but I wanted to share a really neat app I found. Our church is reading the Bible chronologically this year, and several of my friends found a great app to use. It's called You Version, and the image is a brown Bible with the words "Holy Bible" on it. It says it's by "lifechurch.tv". It has many translations and reading plans to choose from. I love it because it assigns you what to read each day and it's really easy to keep track of. However, my favorite feature is that it reads the Bible to you! I follow along with the words as well, but this has helped me SO MUCH. I'm not even sure why, but hearing it has really made a difference. I wanted to share this with you and I know you'll love it!

January, you're a great month.

Driving

2012-01-10T16:16:00.001-06:00

Today has been such a sweet day with my kids. Well, it started out less than ideal - Liam had an extreme diaper situation when I went in to get him this morning - but after a bath and breakfast, we were good to go! About once a week, we have a little routine that I love and I wanted to write it down for the memories. Today was just extra nice, though!

After we had breakfast and got dressed, I decided we needed a change of scenery. We've had a really unusual winter so far - the weather has been so mild and fantastic. I didn't know what we were going to do, but we just needed to get out. By the time we all got dressed and ready it was close to lunchtime. We went through the drive-thru of Chik Fil A and I pulled over into a parking lot to get everyone situated. They both hold their boxes of nuggets and they LOVE to listen to their music while we just drive.

My grandfather taught me the value of a good drive. We actually spent a LOT of time driving when my family would visit Fayetteville growing up. We would listen to our favorite music (Easy Listening), talk, and explore neighborhoods. Poppy taught me to appreciate driving a little slower and just looking around. I remember one time, like it was yesterday, when we were driving on a road that had trees on either side, overlapping above the road. Poppy said, "Look how the sun comes through the trees and leaves such pretty shadows on the road when you drive." I'll never forget that, because it represents a deeper principle: appreciate small things. Now every time I see a road like that, I think of him and I smile at how important "drives" are now to me.

So about once a week, that's what I do with Evy and Liam. I put their music on (with the volume balance turned to the back of the car) while they eat their lunch, and I turn some Easy Listening music on my iPhone just to where I can hear it. I always have the same route around town, but then I always try to turn onto several streets I've never been down. I drive by the original Lynwood (our old building) which is where I have a lot of memories from our early days in our town (back when my family lived here the first time). Then I drive by my old elementary school. Today the kids were playing on the playground, the same one I played on, and I was just overwhelmed with memories! I saw a few little girls playing by the tree where I played and I felt like I was just there yesterday. I usually drive the streets where my childhood friends lived, because I have a lot of happy memories. Some streets are just special for no reason, like Sherwood, Nottingham and Allendale. That's because when Poppy would visit us growing up, and he and I were on one of our drives, we drove on those streets and he said "You know these streets are named for places in England and the Robin Hood story. Allendale was probably named for the character Allen-a-dale." :) And I ALWAYS drive by my old house. Talk about memories....I have millions. One of these days I'm going to get up the nerve to ask the owners if I can just step inside to see it again.

Evy and Liam are happy as clams when we drive. I try to point out the little things - "Look at how that tree shades that house. Isn't it pretty?" Just things like that. I want them to appreciate early the value of a good drive. It happened to be beautiful weather (the most perfect we've had), and we stopped by the park on the way home. Evy and Liam had the BEST time, and they started doing the slide by themselves!

This day made me smile. :)

More Christmas

2012-01-10T15:30:00.000-06:00

After Christmas, my mom's parents came to visit and to celebrate with us!

I gave Poppy "The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill" because we adore England, British history, and the dry English sense of humor. It's a great book!

We are so thankful for our families and that we were able to have so many wonderful Christmas celebrations!

Telling Our Story

2012-01-07T22:40:00.000-06:00

Romin, our beloved photographer that documented Liam's adoption while we were in Korea, is a writer for Groove Korea magazine. It's a publication for ex-pats (non-Koreans) living in Seoul and throughout the country. Romin mentioned me in a tweet and when I went to look, I was so surprised to see this:

Our story is in Groove Korea magazine!!! I remember Romin mentioning that he might want to do a feature about us, but I didn't know any details. Well, here it is. :) The reason I'm most excited about this is because GOD'S story is being told - not ours! I haven't read the article, but even if God isn't specifically mentioned, I truly believe that HE will be made known. We want HIS heart to be known by Americans, the Korean people, and the world. Another reason I'm excited is because I want people to learn about adoption. I want people to put personal faces on adoption. Namely, I want people to put actual children's faces with the orphan crisis. I am so thankful that God is expanding our experience through different avenues.

Thank you for allowing our story to be shared, Romin!

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-07T16:04:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Day! We started off at church, where we experienced a wonderful worship service. My siblings and I sang for the first time together, which was really special. Here it is if you missed when I posted it that day:

After church, we snapped some pictures!

Our family on Christmas Day, 2011!

Evy Kate, Liam, and Uncle with Ellie, our worship pastor's daughter (she's the youngest of five kids!). You'll also notice that Evy and Liam were "angels" in Lifegroup that morning. :)

Liam with Aunt Kay Kay.

That evening, we had Christmas with my family. It was so fun! Chaotic, but fun! ;)

I made Alyssa some decorative things for her classroom when she starts teaching next year. I got the idas from Pinterest and they turned out really cute! I'll get more pictures and share. :)

You can kind of see what Andrea is holding up - the picture of the little boy. We shopped the Samaritan's Purse catalog for each of our family members. In Dad's honor, an evangelist will be trained in a third world country. In Mom's honor, a nursing mother and child will be fed for a week, and in my siblings' honor, three different children will be fed for a week. I surprised Kurt and in his honor, a medical missionary will be trained in a third world country. We're praying that God expands these gifts for His kingdom!

Evy's "rapture" moment.....getting a Belle dress!!!

It was a wonderful, laid-back Christmas Day, and we are so thankful for spending time with our family!

Evy Kateisms and Peter Spiers' Christmas

2012-01-07T00:28:00.000-06:00

I like to store away cute little things Evy does in my head and then blog about them! Here are some really sweet things about our adorable, precious and growing almost-three-year-old:

-She has started to say "Oh, how cute!" and "Oh, that's adorable!" in a high-pitched, little lilting voice. I die every single time. She'll hold up a shirt of Liam's and, while looking it over, say "Oh, this is just so cute!" It's hilarious, because she acts like she's 35 and talking about Liam's cute infant clothing.

-She has started to say "Oh my gosh" and we have to correct this. I do slip and sometimes say it in front of her, but we realized the main culprit is M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. On "Clubhouse," he says it quite a lot. We just don't want her saying it because it's too mature sounding and in toddler-speak could be mistaken for taking the Lord's name in vain. However, even after I tell her to say "Oh my goodness" instead, I smile to myself because, again, she sounds 35.

-She has been giving very complete answers to things. "Yes, I will." "No, not yet." "Not right now."

-If she burps, Evy will say "ExCUSE me! I burped!" It's so funny!

-Evy insists on doing many things herself. As in, if we do it and she wanted to do it herself, she'll re-close a door, unzip a zipper, etc. and redo it.

-Speaking of, she LOVES to open Liam's door to get him in the mornings! I always go in and get her first, and she excitedly runs to his door and opens it. Liam is usually sitting/standing there with a huge grin on his face (smelling like a yucky diaper.....mornings are so fun), and she says in her high-pitched voice "HI, Bwother Beeeaarrr (Brother Bear)!!!!" She draws out the word "Bear" and it almost sounds British. They just love seeing each other in the mornings!

-I think we're in a major OCD phase. When I put Evy down for a nap or nighttime, things must be JUST SO. We're talking 1/4 of an inch, here. She also asks me to pick up any clutter. Kurt has gotten to the point where he puts her in the crib and says "Okay, what do we need to do?" but she really won't answer. So I've learned that we need to go out of her room, then I stand by the door and just wait. And every time, it happens. "Ehhhhh?!?" She just starts fussing. Sure enough, I go in and she starts pointing and saying "Get that." I'm trying to get her to add "please" in the mix. The other night she was demanding such tiny things that I finally said "Okay! We've straightened enough!" (in a very sweet voice of course!) :)

-Evy only sleeps in Disney Princess pajamas. Nothing else will do. I let her do things like that because I know it's only a phase and we closely monitor any behavior that could lead to acting spoiled. It's just a cute thing she's doing and I think there are times when it's appropriate to let her have things how she likes it. She's gotten to a point where she wants to wear Princess pajamas and then a Princess GOWN on top of that. Her nightgowns are sleeveless, and that's how it started. We had her wear pajamas underneath so she wouldn't get cold, and now she insists on doing it that way for naps AND bedtime. Now I've found a loophole: Oftentimes she'll be okay with wearing a regular footie sleeper (non-Princess) and then a Princess gown on top. I'm aching, because she's at the very end of her footie pajama stage. I can't bear this. It's just too much.

-During Christmas, we listened to the Maranatha! Kids Christmas album. My siblings and I actually listened to it in the 90s, so it's been around awhile. Evy learned every single song and knows every single word. She articulates the words so well! However, there's a catch. She doesn't want anyone else singing with her. I've had to warn any family members riding in the car with me that they are sworn to silence. Also, you're not allowed to look at her, or she holds up her hand, palm facing you, like "Oh you are NOT even looking at me right now, girlfriend." So as long as we keep silent and stare straight ahead, we are serenaded with the most beautiful, angelic, precious and innocent little voice. She knows every single word and it amazes me.

-Evy ADORES her classes at church!! She looks forward to it, loves her teachers, and talks nonstop when we pick her up. It's the sweetest thing to see her so excited to be at church! What's extra cute is that the kids go to "Rally Room" for songs and a skit and she talks about Captain Joe, Skipper Sally, and Pelican Pete. :)

-I can tell that she really enjoys being my helper. She answers me in such a grown-up tone when I ask her to get me Liam's diaper. She says "I wee-uhl" ("I will" with a little twang?). Almost in the tone of, "Of course I'll help you take care of our baby." Haha!

Tonight something happened that really sums up my relationship with Evy. We had been over at Mom and Dad's house and my Mom showed Evy the book "Peter Spiers' Christmas!" Did any of you read that book? Mom told Evy that it was her Mommy's favorite when she was younger. :)

And it WAS my favorite. Probably still is one of my very favorite Christmas books. I loved it because there were no words, just very, very detailed illustrations of what Christmas is. I would pore over these pages and my mom would describe every single thing that was going on in the pictures. She would narrate every scene of Christmas for me.

Evy was so excited about the book. She and Liam had a falling out in which she got hurt, and she was upset. I told her that we would have a special reading time and go through Mommy's Christmas book together. We put Brother to bed and got Evy all ready for bed. Then I sat with her in her room and we went through, page by page, just like my mom and I had done. I described every little thing that was happening, and we talked about how we had done similar things as a family.

We got to the page where it shows the Christmas Eve service at church. It shows the quaint inside of a church. Evy looked for a minute and said, "There's a shelf!" I asked what she meant and she pointed to the church balcony! Hahaha! She said "We have a shelf at church TOO!" I told her that yes, we had a shelf and that she's even sat in the shelf before. It was adorable and a moment I'll remember forever.

Then I pointed out where they were doing the candlelight portion of the service. We remembered how we did that at our church Christmas Eve service too! I said, "Remember? We sang Silent Night," and I started singing it. That led to us choosing a different Christmas song for every page of Peter Spiers' Christmas. Remember how I said she knows every Christmas song? :)

I sat there and started bawling my eyes out. Her little voice was so precious and in that moment, my Christmas season was totally and completely made. We cuddled and sang and cuddled some more and kept turning pages back and forth. It was one of the best moments of my life.

Evy Kate. . .you will never know or understand how much I love you. You might start to understand when you're reading Peter Spiers' Christmas to your little girl. :)

Old Fashioned Childhood

2012-01-05T22:39:00.000-06:00

I love browsing different blogs and websites of families that are living a conservative, intentional Christian lifestyle. If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know how much I adore the Duggar family (my deepest, heartfelt prayers go to them after their devastating miscarriage), the Bates family, and more families I've found through those two main websites. One night I just started blog-hopping (you know how it goes - one leads to another, etc. etc.) and I just enjoyed my time so much. It's funny: I'm very drawn to families that would be consider "fundamental" Christians. You know the type - typically more old-fashioned dress, lots of children, homeschooling and the like. While we don't dress that way or believe that we're called to have an unusually large amount of children (at this point anyway), we consider ourselves to be VERY much like-minded with these families. Among many other things, one thing I love is their commitment to old-fashioned childhood.

I want Evy to be a little girl for as long as possible. I want her to play, make believe, dress up, have tea parties, for as long as possible. Likewise, I want Liam to explore our backyard, play in our treehouse and just be a little boy for as long as possible. In all honesty, it's a definite contributing factor to our decision to homeschool. Like I've said before, this doesn't mean that we're completely shielding them from the outside world to the point that it's a detriment.

I really love finding resources and inspiration for old-fashioned childhood. At some point I'll do a comprehensive list, but something recent I found was the Girlhood Home Companion. It's a series of publications that celebrate girlhood and developing godly character. They are only publishing one issue at a time and only as often as they can (I believe they have a relative they're needing to care for), but I bought their two "Albums" which contain ALL of the back issues! They have a recent issue they just published highlighting Louisa May Alcott and Little Women. I wanted to share these with y'all because they just feel like they're from a different era, and it's so refreshing.

In (kind of) related news, I'm already thinking about Liam's big boy room. We definitely aren't moving him anytime soon, but for some reason I just really started getting my plans together. In keeping with the old-fashioned childhood theme, I'm going to try and make his room look like Christopher Robin lives there. In all of the Winnie the Pooh intros (and the recent movie that came out), it's a lived-in room of a little boy who loves to explore, pretend, and has curiosity about every topic. Of course it helps that it matches my love for English design. :) I love the concept of traditional English nurseries. The nursery wasn't just for infants - it was for children up until their teenage years! All that to say, I'm going to try to keep the room the color it is. I know I'm going to do two twin beds, because his room is large enough for that. I found beautiful plaid duvet covers at Pottery Barn Kids, and I ordered two shams just to test them out. If they don't work I'll just send them back. I've learned that when you find something design-wise that you love, it's usually wise to go ahead and get it. Things are discontinued all the time! I'm also particular about the colors I want to use, and this plaid has many traditional colors to pull from.

"Wesley" bedding from Pottery Barn Kids

I also found the perfect beds for Liam's room, also from PBK. They are classic, beautiful, and can be used in ANY room of my house in the future.

"Anderson" bed from Pottery Barn Kids

I love PB's new "Tuscany" finish - the perfect brown with a little distressing. We're going to keep an eye on the beds to see if they go on sale, because they would definitely be an investment. But I think they are definitely the kind of bed Christopher Robin would have had. :)

I want to fill his room with "treasures" like maybe a teepee (homemade), a classic Pooh Bear, a map of the world and more. I want to make it Andy's Room from Toy Story with a little Europe thrown in. That's very much "me."

I'm so thankful to be "doing" childhood again through my kids!

Traditions

2012-01-05T01:07:00.001-06:00

Warning - this post is REALLY long. You'll need a snack, drink and potty break.

I feel like I'm always writing posts about traditions, but I always like to evaluate each year and see what's working and what we might want to change. I'm always interested in how other families "do" things, and I'm constantly analyzing what I want the holidays to look like for us.

This year was hard for me. Really hard. I can't pinpoint any one thing, but I think a lot of it had to do with all the change that's happened in our family in recent months. Obviously I'm not pointing to Liam as the source of my difficulty! But adding a child to the family is HUGE. I would say we're adjusting well and getting used to everything, but we just can't deny that our world has been completely rocked. Also, Liam is at the age where he is running around, touching everything, testing limits, etc. CONSTANTLY. We had gotten to a point with Evy where she was just very easy. She was always an easy baby, but once we were in her second year, it was as easy as breathing to take her places. Obviously Liam can't help what age he is, and he's a boy! All of that comes with the territory. It just made for very un-restful family gatherings. We were chasing him constantly and keeping the peace between him and Evy - ha! Please don't mistake this for me complaining or not appreciating that he's home with us. I AM! I'm just being honest. I've seen several people mention that Christmas was different for them this year, and it made me feel less alone. So maybe this will help others who had frenzied Christmases.

Also, Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. I know what you're thinking - like I said in my previous post, we were thrilled to go to church on Christmas morning and it didn't affect any traditions we have (we still would've gone if it had affected any traditions). But the day just had a different flow. That's the only way I know to describe it. We went to church, ate out at a restaurant and came home. It felt like any other Sunday - ha! We really enjoy eating out on Sundays after church and I wouldn't have changed anything about the day. It just felt very normal, and I think I like Christmas to feel different than other days of the year. I was convicted by this, because I shouldn't be looking for traditions, or events, or anything else to make Christmas FEEL like Christmas - it truly is about celebrating Christ. Worship is all we need on Christmas, and I'm thankful we had a wonderful service with our church family.

Finally, I took on too much this year. I don't even know how it happened! I really didn't feel overwhelmed while everything was happening, but then I got REALLY, REALLY sick the week before Christmas. It was a wake-up call, and I had time to dwell on the fact that along with just getting a horrible virus, my body was just DONE. This also led to me thinking through yearly activities and what I can do to simplify.

Before I get into our traditions, I'll share a little background on where we're coming from. Like I said before, I grew up moving every 4 or so years. While this has been a huge blessing in my life and made me who I am, it also means that there's not a home that I "grew up in." My siblings and I won't experience coming home every holiday to the rooms we slept in as kids, etc. Obviously I wouldn't change the way I grew up for anything, but since I know we're going to be in our town for hopefully our whole lives, I want my kids to experience a "family home" that we stay in forever. That was kind of a tangent, sorry! We always traveled to my mom's parents' for Christmas. My dad's parents lived far away and it wasn't always practical to travel that far. So we were used to doing our family presents several days before Christmas, and that was the special time for just our family. Then we would load up in the car and make the drive to my grandparents'. All of our family traditions were centered in Arkansas at my grandparents' house. I could list about 20 off the top of my head. In recent years, my grandparents have started traveling to us, so we don't really have those "Fayetteville" things anymore. That's why it's very important to me that Kurt and I are always having a conversation about things that our kids can look forward to, cherish and anticipate each year.

Kurt grew up in one house most of his entire childhood, up until the end of high school. Then they built a house across the street - ha! His grandparents live next door, and his other set of grandparents live 5 minutes away. Very different from how I grew up. Every Christmas day, they would spend the day over at one set of grandparents' house, which they still do to this day. Then usually the day after Christmas is spent with his other set of grandparents. It hasn't changed at all! :) He grew up spending Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after with lots of extended family, food and fellowship.

So where does that leave us? Basically, we can't imagine it just being our family unit on Christmas Day. We both have wonderful, wonderful memories of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on all of the special days. I guess I need to give the disclaimer that I'm not saying anything against people who have made their own decisions about Christmas celebrations. I just think it's funny, because I've read at least 12 (no lie) blog posts about Christmas and they all start with "We made the decision VERY early to ONLY spend Christmas day with OUR family" (and many posts used capital letters - ha!). I chuckle because Kurt and I made our adamant decision - we will always do everything we can to spend those days with our extended families. So it goes both ways, and each family makes the decision that's best for them. :)

Another thing we immediately agreed on was that we would alternate each year to be as fair as possible. I hate using the word "fair" because it sounds like rules to a game, but you know what I mean. This year I struggled because when we were at the Christmas Eve open house, I got really sad. I told Kurt that I wished we could do this every year and just have the consistency of yearly stuff. But at the same time, I wouldn't trade our Christmases in North Mississippi for anything. Kurt made a really good point. He said "Why don't we sit down and list some traditions for each year? That way we can get excited for the same predictable things at each place." It was the perfect thing to say to me because he knew I desperately wanted "order" and predictability. So here's our little list!

December Activities

-Mr. Dumey's Christmas Show (me and Kurt)
-Madrigal Feast (me and Kurt)
-Christmas Caroling (Started this year and LOVED IT!!!)
-Look at Christmas lights (we did this on several occasions and I love the memories!)
-Sing in our Christmas program at church
-Kids Christmas party (while I probably won't host this by myself again, I know all my friends will want to contribute and make this a yearly event!)
-Downtown Open House
-Ladies Christmas Tea and Home Tour at church
-Tour the Glenn House, a historical home in our town, to see it decorated for Christmas each yea

Notice that none of the above require heavy responsibilities from me. This is intentional! I think it's unavoidable that December is busy, but the above things keep us busy making memories as a family; they don't keep me busy with stress. Huge difference.

Traditions at Home:

-Christmas Eve service. I adore it!

-Christmas Eve open house (hosted by friends in our church) to spend time in fellowship with friends.

-Pick a day and have our family Christmas. I had someone ask to share more of how we do this. Christmas falls on a Tuesday next December, and we'll most likely do our family Christmas on Saturday morning, December 22nd. Then we'll probably celebrate with my family on Saturday evening (or something like that). Then we'll head to Mississippi for Christmas Eve, Day, and a couple of days after. We simply choose a day that we can dedicate to our little celebration and take our time doing our thing.

-On the years we're home, it will probably make sense for us to do Christmas morning presents. We're thinking we'd like to maybe do a Christmas breakfast with my family.

-I'd like to spend Christmas evening watching Christmas movies, maybe playing games with my siblings, and just hanging out. I was thinking maybe my mom and I could do a Christmas dinner together.

Traditions in Mississippi:

-I'm going to talk to Kurt's mom about having a Christmas Eve meal. It could even just be soup - she makes the best soups! But I think it would be nice to look forward to that meal. Or maybe Italian? Yum!

-I really enjoy drinking hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies once the kids have gone to bed. I have fond memories of sitting in the Lancasters' great room doing this, and it's super relaxing. :)

-Christmas Day we'll spend over at Momo and Daddy Willie's. We always eat a great lunch and exchange gifts with the whole extended family. So much fun!

-Usually the day after Christmas we'll go to Kurt's dad's parents and have lunch and the kids open their presents from Momma Dot and Grandaddy. It's also a really enjoyable time.

-If the shops are open, I'd like to go to some nearby small towns that have really cute boutiques and just browse. It makes for some fun outings!

So there you have it. In a nutshell, I'm keeping my responsibilities low, and we're keeping time with family as a top priority. Our little family unit is great and we value our time together, but we are very big on making the most of every opportunity while our older relatives are alive. Not to be morbid, but we want NO regrets. Again, each family is free to make their own decisions!! I just wanted to share what we do. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-04T15:08:00.000-06:00

We alternate where we spend Christmas Eve/Christmas Day each year between Kurt's family and mine. It's very, very important to us that we're with family on these days. I know some people choose to emphasize their own family unit, and that's great too, but it's just how we were raised. I grew up traveling every year to my grandparents' house in Arkansas, so I NEVER woke up on Christmas at my house. My parents would just choose a day and that would be our Christmas. It never phased us, because it's all we knew. That's how Kurt and I now do Christmas. Everyone is different, but when we think of Christmas, it involves extended family.

Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, we did our presents on Christmas Eve morning (Saturday). This is another thing that was non-negotiable to us. It wasn't even a question if we'd go to church on Christmas morning. The whole reason we have Christmas is because of God sending Jesus, and what better way to celebrate Christmas than to worship corporately with our church? It's funny, because we tend to do our family Christmas on a random day every year, so this year was no different. We just are not hardcore "IT HAS TO BE CHRISTMAS DAY" people. I'm going to do a post about how we want to establish traditions each year because we alternate locations. So that's coming. :)

Christmas Eve morning we woke up with the kids and came downstairs to do presents! I've shared this before, but Santa only fills stockings at our house. I'll add that in to the post I'm already working on about traditions, but this year confirmed why we do it that way - it was a HUGE moment when Evy kept telling us "thank you" for her gifts.

Here are are, opening presents! Evy got a Cinderella Castle playset, an Ariel dress, and a Disney song player with headphones. In her stocking, she got two DVD's and a Minnie's "Bowtique" playset. Liam got a workshop, a little hammer/ball toy, and a Pororo play cell phone that we bought in Korea (Pororo is like the Mickey Mouse of Korea). In his stocking, he got Toy Story plush toys and a DVD. :)

After presents, we had cinnamon rolls and bacon. Simple but so good!

Later that evening, we had our Christmas Eve service. It's one of my VERY favorite things about Christmas when we're here in town. I just love it. My dad told the Christmas story to the kids:

I love this picture of my sister and Bitty:

The candlelight part of the service is in my top five moments of the holiday season. I feel complete peace wash over me and it's the most serene feeling. I feel a huge connection with my church family. Everyone is reflective and worshipful. And I know that across the country (and perhaps the world), other churches are doing the exact same thing: lighting candles and singing "Silent Night."

After the beautiful service, my family went to an open house that a family in our church hosts each year. We look forward to making this a tradition on the years that we're here in town! We had such a wonderful time being with other families on Christmas Eve.

It was the perfect Christmas Eve!

Goals

2012-01-03T00:36:00.000-06:00

I don't make resolutions in the traditional sense. I'm just not super serious about it! At the start of each new year, I usually do try to think through some changes that can be made or things I would like to accomplish. So here's my list for this year:

-I absolutely need to be more consistent in my time with the Lord. I LOVE my Beth Moore studies that I do, and I'm always so grateful when I've sat down to do them. I just struggle with the discipline of making it happen. It's nothing but my own complacency. I'm really doing to prioritize this and not allow the enemy to win on this one.

-In a perfect world, I'd make some big fitness goal and totally blow it out of the water this year. But I'm realistic, and I know this won't happen. I just know myself. However, I would like to be more aware of the choices I'm making and just try to do better overall. This is one area where I severely struggle and I'm not going to set major goals. It only leads to disappointment and a sense of failure (trust me, I know). I've often thought that I would do well having a treadmill at home. I personally don't feel comfortable putting my kids in the gym childcare (I know they're fabulous, licensed and totally trustworthy, but I just don't know them personally and I would be a wreck all through my workouts), and knowing I could exercise without leaving the house would be great. Something to think about!

-I'm still piecing together our photos from the two hard drive crashes we had in recent months. Thankfully I'm now using Sugar Sync (online storage), which gives me peace of mind. Also, Kurt bought me a MacBook for Christmas! Macs are just more reliable in that area. Once I get everything re-organized, I need to make our 2011 family photo book. If I somehow get that done, I'd still like to go back and tweak our 2009 book and try and tackle our first year of marriage photo book at some point. But the 2011 book is the most important.

-I've recently discovered the Nest Effect and I am IN LOVE. There are millions of practical ways to get organized. Again, I'm being realistic and I'm not putting enormous pressure on myself. But I would like to tackle little projects here and there!

-I'd like to go through and really clean out closets, extra toys, etc. Another thing I've started and will continue to do is go through baby clothes and only keep the things that I feel really attached to. I feel like if I stay on top of this task, I won't end up with enormous amounts of things that need to be gone through.

I think that's about it! Nothing too major. Hopefully these are things that I can do in small pieces and I'll accomplish some things this year. :)

Happy 18 Months, Liam!

2012-01-01T17:17:00.000-06:00

Liam is 18 months old today! On January 21, he will have been home 3 months, and I can't even believe that. Like I've said before, it almost feels like he's been home 3 years. It's almost impossible for me to remember what it was like just having Evy, and to be completely honest, there are times when I DO remember and it's hard. We have had some hard days, but I feel like we are really settling into life as a family of four. Here are some highlights for Liam at 18 months:

-He is going to bed at 9pm and waking up at 9am. He takes one nap a day, usually from 2-4pm. He's a GREAT sleeper and loves his crib. We are so glad that we chose to put him in his room immediately - he has absolutely thrived.

-He loves church! He goes to Lifegroup (Sunday School) for 2 hours on Sunday mornings, Praise Builders (music class) on Sunday nights, and a class on Wednesday nights for an hour while Kurt and I are in choir rehearsal. He loves it all! He has consistent teachers in each class, so he knows what to expect. He loves interacting with other children and as long as he's able to be active and busy, he's happy.

-He is the biggest flirt we've ever seen. He doesn't do this all the time, but often he will just start "working" the room he's in and smile this huge adorable smile at the ladies. Christmas Eve we were at a get-together and he just walked up to a couple of ladies he had never seen and stood right in front of them, smiling. Of course they thought he was adorable, but what was even funnier is that he was clearly flirting. It wasn't just innocent smiling. He would tilt his little head and cut his eyes sideways just for emphasis. :)

-He doesn't favor me or Kurt more than the other. He's an equal opportunity guy. He goes through little phases (a couple of days at a time) where he'll really want to be near Kurt and have him pick him up, but overall he really enjoys being with both of us.

-He adores Evy! Adores her. He also knows how to irritate her - ha! Like I've referenced before, he will touch everything that's "hers" just to get a reaction. She screams "NO LIM!" (That's how it sounds when she says "Liam.") If I had a dime for every time I heard "NO LIM!!!!!!!" I would be a bazillionaire. However, after they've been separated (at nap time, bedtime, or at church), the reunion is always so cute.

-We have our nighttime routine, and lately he has started "singing" when we sing "Jesus Loves Me." He just kind of makes noise, but we know that's him contributing to the singing along with us. So sweet!

-He can say "Juice," "Gentle" and "Dah" (Kurt). I think I'm "Mama" to him. He can pretty much say "Shoe" and he will shake his head and say "Uh uh" to mean he doesn't want something. He mostly still uses "Dis" (this), "Dat" (that) and "Muh" (whatever he wants it to mean!). He does a LOT of pointing. Lately he has started using more motions. At bath time last night, I was undressing Evy and he got my attention and started pulling on his clothes. He will also pat whatever he's trying to get you to understand.

-He has become VERY attached to a blanket that Kurt's mom made him! He doesn't carry it ALL the time, but he definitely wants it whenever he sleeps, and there are times when he just gets fussy and I know that's what he's meaning to tell me.

-He still has his little hoarse voice. We thought it might be caused by congestion in Korea when we first got him, but we're starting to think it's just how his voice is! It's so cute.

-Liam very much has a strong-willed personality and sometimes struggles with authority (obviously all kids do at times, but he falls into the "often" category - ha!). We've noticed that even though he hates boundaries, he thrives with them. He responds very, very well to routine and now he instantly responds when we say "No." We've noticed that once we correct him a few times with a behavior, he quickly learns and rarely repeats it. We're very, very quick to praise him for that! He's extremely smart, which is a wonderful trait!

-He loves his extended family and has bonded with my parents, siblings, Kurt's parents, etc. He recognizes his family and gives cuddles and loves. We've observed that he seems to have a special relationship with my dad, and I think that stems from Korea. I think he really remembers my dad being there along with us, and it's so incredibly sweet.

Speaking of Korea, today in church I randomly had a very vivid flashback to the day we got him, on October 18th. I remembered being in the Holt Reception Center and seeing SO MANY babies there with their foster mothers. It made me appreciate and remember where Liam came from. It also made me thank God again that he was raised by such an incredible family for a year. I've been going back through all of the files and pictures they gave us of him (I'll share a few at some point), and it's overwhelming. The gratitude I feel is just overwhelming. There are pictures/video of his Foster Mom playing with him at a Gymboree Gym in Seoul (yes, they have one there!). Little things and outings like that where I saw the love and fun they shared. So I wanted to write a little note, just in their honor.

Dear Foster Family,
Jae-ho is doing so well! He is adjusting wonderfully and is so full of life. We are so incredibly grateful that he is in our family, and we are especially thankful to the Lord that you were his foster family. We've seen over and over how much you invested in him and how much love you gave him. THANK YOU. Thank you for pouring God's love into him and preparing Jae-ho for us. He is 18 months old today and is as adorable as ever. His first Christmas was a joy and he loved all of the fun things we did. He got many fun gifts and we even gave him some things from Korea that we had bought. We pray for you constantly. We're lifting you up as you are living out the Gospel in Seoul - loving those babies who have no one else to love them. We love you all!

Happy 18 months, precious boy!

Thank You, 2011.....

2011-12-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

.....you've been a wonderful, awesome, life-changing year!

I usually do a year-in-review post with links, but one thing I'm working on is letting go of the pressure I put on myself. Our Christmas letter kind of summed everything up and if anyone is interested in browsing through my blog posts this sure, the blog archive is in the right-hand column. :)

2011 was a year that will always be very important, because it's when Liam joined our family. From January - October (when he came home), it was a roller coaster of emotions, preparations, and seeking God. Also in those months, we were able to cherish Evy Kate by herself and I wouldn't trade those months for ANYTHING.

This was a good year for relationships. I feel like I settled into friendships and really connected with people this year. I struggled at the beginning of 2011 to figure out where I fit in and wondering if I would ever be able to crate lifelong friendships that both parties are committed to. However, I saw a lot of things evolve in that area and I am so, so thankful for the friends God has given me here. It's amazing how I can honestly say I have a rather large friend/Mommy/support group. This year Kurt and I got to take our trip to Branson in September and we still talk about how wonderful that was. We enjoyed every single second!

Within my family, my brother left for college. I've continued to be thankful every single day that we're able to live in the same town as my parents. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it was NEVER something I or my family expected, and that's why we're still so amazed at the blessing of it. We also welcomed our nephew, CJ into the family and he is just a chubby chunk of cuteness. :)

At church, we grew in our leadership roles. Like I mentioned in the Christmas letter, Kurt was elected a deacon! He will be ordained next Sunday. Kurt and I also started an adult Lifegroup class with another couple, with Kurt being the lead teacher. We continued in worship ministry, and singing with Travis Cottrell was a highlight of my life.

Overall, this has been a year of growth - upward towards the Lord, sideways as we've expanded in so many ways (family-size, vision for the future, etc.) as well as downward, as we put down roots. I think that's a pretty great year if we've grown in every area.

I'm so thankful for blogging! I've been able to document our lives and I can look back on everything that's happened. I appreciate all of you and your incredible love and support over this last year, especially through our adoption of Liam. I can't thank you all enough.

I'm so excited about 2012! Here are some things we have going on:

-I will be visiting some precious friends in Mississippi!
-Evy Kate will turn 3 in February. I'm in party-planning mode and we're so excited!
-I'm also hoping to possibly make a trip to Northwest Arkansas to visit my grandparents in February.
-I will attend the Created for Care adoption retreat in March (I switched from the January date).
-In April, Kurt and I are taking a trip to Boston/possibly New York City to celebrate FIVE years of marriage!
-This coming summer I will be making reservations for our Disney trip in January 2013. I'm so thrilled because my family is going with us and we haven't done that in years!
-We're always leaving this open to the Lord, but there's a good chance we will expand our family again through pregnancy in the coming year. We will see what God has in store!

We're so excited to see what God does in 2012!

Let's Go Caroling!

2011-12-30T16:09:00.000-06:00

A group of my friends and I were talking about Christmas festivities and we decided to get a group together to go caroling! I was trying to think back, and I'm not sure that I've ever even been caroling before....surely somewhere way back when...?!?! After the wonderful experience that we had this year, this is definitely going to become a tradition! The group grew and grew until we had a REALLY large amount of people, which was so fun! We went to several shut-ins and they appreciated it so, so much. We even made a stop to see Kurt, who was on call at the hospital. :) It was a wonderful night. There was one point where we were singing Silent Night, and I just looked around at everyone and felt so thankful. I felt really connected to our life here and it was a rare moment this season that I felt completely immersed in Christmas.

Our last stop was to see Mrs. Agatha, who isn't a shut-in, but it was her birthday! She is the grandmother of really good friends of ours. Her husband, Mr. Charlie, passed away several years ago and was one of my dad's very closest friends. We miss him so much and it was a joy to sing to Mrs. Agatha on her special day!

Happy Birthday Pinka!

2011-12-30T00:48:00.000-06:00

On December 20, my little sister Andrea turned 17. We call her Pinka because from the time she was a baby, we called her Punky. Then once Evy Kate came along, she pronounced it "Pinka" and it has stuck ever since! :)

In honor of Pinka's birthday, I gave Liam a messy, rock-star hairdo. Pinka always wants me to fix it that way! :)

Sidnote - Lis didn't know she was in the picture, and that's why she's just staring down. She's not mad - haha!!

A couple of days later, we went to St. Louis to celebrate again! Kurt had to work part of the day, so a sweet friend of mine from church kept the Littles for me so I could go. It was so nice to be with my family!

More Christmas in Mississippi

2011-12-29T15:26:00.000-06:00

Our last leg of Mississippi celebrations included lunch at Kurt's grandmother's house. We spent more time with family and opened gifts from Momma Dot and Grandaddy.

Kurt's dad holding Liam!

Momma Dot with her gift from us.

Sweet Maddie!

Opening presents!

Caroline looked adorable!

Maddie and Liam are very close in age, so it was cute to watch them together.

Smiley boy!

Evy and Liam just plopped down and started smiling - of course I had to grab my camera!

Mia and two of the boys!

The whole gang. We were only missing Josh!

Disney on Ice!

2011-12-29T15:13:00.000-06:00

While we were visiting Kurt's family, we took Evy to see Disney on Ice! Kurt's mom had told me a few days before that the show was coming to Tupelo (which is near where they live), and Kurt and I knew we HAD to take her! She absolutely loved it (we did too!) and it was such a fun "date" with our sweet girl.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever of Evy Katie!

Daddy giving Evy the rose that came with her souvenir program.

Her first glimpse of Mickey and Minnie!

Of course the Princesses were a huge hit!

This was such a wonderful surpruse - they did a section devoted to "It's a Small World!" I loved it so much!

After the show, Mrs. Pam and Mr. Randy brought Liam to Tupelo and kept the kids along with their cousin C.J. We went out to dinner with Kurt's brother Cory, his wife Ashley, and our friends Jim and Jennifer. It was so much fun!

Me with my two Littles and my nephew C.J.!

Such a fun night!

Christmas with the Lancasters

2011-12-28T16:17:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Christmas, we headed to north Mississippi to celebrate with Kurt's family!

Everything was ready for Christmas, including "White Christmas" playing on the TV!

Peekaboo!

Playing with Aunt Jen Jen and cousin Josh.

She just can't get any sweeter!!!

This is so funny - Kurt took this picture to capture what Liam's face looks like a lot of the time. He gets severely forlorn and upset if you aren't holding him the SECOND he decides he should be held. Ha!

Evy and Liam got a Cozy Coupe, inflatable bouncy house, and a small basketball goal to share!

Cousin C.J. opening his gift from us!

Aunt Jen Jen helping Josh open his gift from us.

Oh, what fun!

Liam's first Tonka!

Immediately climbing in the Tonka. :)

Something was funny amidst Kurt's brothers...?

BOW HEAD.

Looking at the picture of himself and Sissy that we gave Mia for Christmas!

CJ was making Momo and Daddy Willie smile!

I love this picture!

What a fun evening!

A Rough Night

2011-12-28T10:44:00.000-06:00

Last night was really rough. We believe that Liam had his first real grieving episode since being home. I want to document this for our sake, and even though it's not fun, maybe it will help others in the adoptive journey.

I'm a night owl, but even by my standards I was up too late last night. I was just wired for some reason! I just couldn't make myself go to bed. It was a little after 2am, and I went upstairs and got in bed. Right after that, Liam started crying. I noticed right away it wasn't his usual fuss where he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night. It was just different. I went in and checked his diaper, which was clean and tried to rock him. The only way I can describe it is that I just felt a difference in how he was crying. Liam doesn't transfer easily from being rocked to sleep (he rarely rocks to sleep anyway) to his crib, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to get him totally to sleep. I hoped to just calm him and settle him back down. I tried rocking numerous times, and he just kept crying hard.

I went in and got him and took him to my office (it's upstairs with all of the other bedrooms) that has a daybed. The bed is against the wall, so I felt a little safer. I laid him down next to me and he immediately was quiet still. By this time it was 3:30ish in the morning, and I was trying to decide what to do. I know that Liam sleeps well in his crib, and I also knew that his morning sleep would be of better quality if I could transfer him to his crib. However, by this point I was starting to really piece together that he was grieving and I did NOT want to do anything that would make it worse. I laid there and dozed, but opened my eyes off and on and look at him (he was inches from my face). It brought back so many memories of Korea, because I remember it was interesting to see how he fell asleep on his own. And, just like Korea, once he was asleep he started flailing his arms around and hitting me in the face - ha! Especially in a twin-sized daybed, in the wee hours of the morning, it was magnified that co-sleeping isn't ideal for us - haha! I did want to let him get to sleep before I tried anything. I lifted him up and saw his eyes flutter open, but I walked the few steps to his room and put him in bed. I told him how much Mommy loves him and made sure he had his security blanket and bear close by. He immediately fell back asleep and woke up at 10:00 this morning. :)

All that to say, I just feel a discernment that this was a grieving episode, all things considered. I feel like I handled it in a way that provided peace of mind, because I was able to comfort him in the way he needed it and give him security, but I was able to maintain his routine of sleeping in his crib, which also gives him security (he really does enjoy his crib). We've been home a little over two months and this is the first time I feel like we had a grieving episode. And who knows, maybe his teeth were just bothering him or something, but I just have a feeling this was different. I wanted to document it just so we can keep a record of his journey.

He seems to be doing better this morning and is having breakfast as I type. We'll just continue to navigate as we go! I'm so thankful that Liam is here and that he doesn't have to make any more major family transitions!

Christmas Offering

2011-12-27T23:17:00.001-06:00

Pause my regular playlist in the right column to hear the video.

On Christmas morning at church, my siblings and I sang "Christmas Offering." We've never sung together before and it was really special. It's funny, because this song lended itself to be really mellow/chill, and the four of us aren't usually that way - ha! But it was a reverent, appropriate song for Christmas, and we were honored to sing. Trivial side note: Yes, my sister Alyssa and I are wearing the same boots. Great minds think alike! :)

Communication Breakthroughs!

2011-12-26T01:47:00.000-06:00

I wanted to give an update on how Liam is doing! I'm not even sure where to start. He is definitely a strong-willed child and is VERY, VERY smart - sometimes that's a deadly combo. Ha! A big challenge we have is that Liam knows exactly how to get Evy upset. He'll touch every single thing he KNOWS belong to her and will look at her, waiting for a reponse. An equal problem is Evy's reponse. She goes from zero to 100 in about 1 second. It escalates and she doesn't respond in the best way. So we're teaching at both ends of the spectrum about sharing and being repectful to one another. Good night, it can be exhausting. But it's worth the effort and work! Tonight was a perfect example of that.

Two things happened tonight that REALLY stuck out to me as far as how Liam is picking up on things. He has been referring to any drink as "Juice" and will say that word when he wants a drink of some sort. But other than that, every single thing is "Muh," "Dis" or "Dat." He points a lot, and he definitely knows his name. Sometimes I do say things in Korean to make things a little easier, but 99% we're speaking in full English to him. He definitely understands the word "No" and he gets MAD if you say that word to him. However, we've seen that he understands what we mean by "No" and he's really doing better with it. He has also learned to shake his head "No" and even say "Uh uh" if he doesn't want something that's offered. So all that to say, we've seen good signs of communication.

But tonight was a different ballgame. Every night, Kurt, Evy and I put Liam to bed. I sit in the rocking chair with him, and Kurt sits on the stool nearby. Evy is usually dancing - ha! We sing "Jesus Loves Me" and sometimes one other song, and then Kurt prays. Then Kurt will take Evy to her room to brush her teeth while I rock Liam a little longer and then put him to bed. Tonight, Evy and Kurt left the room and I started singing a song to Liam. He sat up and looked straight at me for a minute and then said "Rah! Rah!" And I knew exactly what he meant. I started singing our "Rocking, Rocking" song about being in a rocking chair that he LOVES. He instantly smiled this HUGE grin and then happily laid his head back down! It was a huge moment for me, because it was our first real exchange where we both clearly understood each other.

Sometimes it's hard to remember that Liam's only been home two months. Isn't that crazy? Kurt and I were talking about how we feel it's going, and we reminisced about when Evy was a baby. It's hard to compare, but in a lot of ways I didn't feel like I could take a deep breath until Evy was about 6 months old. That's when I think we really hit our stride with her and from then on it's been smooth sailing. I have a very strong feeling that it will be similar with Liam. I think we'll reach a point where it's extremely comfortable and we'll settle into an enjoyable system of doing things. Right now we're still learning each other, and we're figuring out how to be a family of four. In some ways it's come easy to us, and in other ways it's been the hardest thing I've ever adjusted to. But then there are nights like tonight where something clicks and you realize that all of the hard work hasn't been in vain, and that what you've prayed for is happening.

Evy is still the sweetest little helper, and it's so obvious that she and Liam love each other more each day. You should see them in the mornings - it's like they've missed each other all night! It's hilarious to me, because 5 minutes into the morning they're usually already having a tiff, but it's so sweet first thing when they wake up. :) I know as the months go on, we will continue to hit our stride and Liam will absorb more and more. Thank you for praying for us as we adjust, and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Ye Olde Madrigal Feaste!

2011-12-26T00:04:00.000-06:00

Earlier this month, I went with several friends to one of the local high school's Madrigal Feast! Several months ago, my friend Whitney and I decided we should go to a Madrigal Feast because we're OBSESSED with English history, especially the Tudor period. You can see why we're friends - what 26-year-olds are this fascinated with England in the 1500s??? Well, we are. One of the local high schools is known for their Madrigal event because it's SO well done. In fact, it's so popular that it's hard to even get tickets. Thankfully Whitney had some relatives involved and got us all tickets! Kurt ended up being on call, so he had to miss. :( So that left me with three other couples - haha!! I had a blast, though!

The feast was held in a catering/banquet hall that I've always loved. It's perfect for an event like this!

Jason (Sarah's husband) was our Table Master. He really mastered that role.

And what Madrigal Feast would be complete without a boar's head??? Obviously it wasn't real, but we sure did a double-take!

Here's Ryan (Whitney's husband) getting his fortune read!

The whole show lasted about 3 hours and included singing, dancing, entertainment, and a great meal!

Remember Mr. Dumey, my former choir teacher? Well, he was at the feast and was put into the stocks - what a good sport!

The whole group! From left to right: Nathan and Joanna, Sarah and Jason, me, and Whitney and Ryan! These are some funny, funny people!

I can't wait until next year when Kurt can hopefully come with us. It was such a wonderful evening!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:14:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed and happy day today! We're so incredibly thankful that God sent Jesus to earth to redeem us and give us a glimpse of the beautiful eternity that awaits us.

Merry Christmas and lots of love!

Songs in Liam's Video

2011-12-22T16:40:00.000-06:00

Thank yall so much for your sweet comments about Liam's adoption video! My biggest hope is that it points to the Lord and also that it would cause more families to pray about adoption. I meant to add this with the video, but many have asked for a list of songs I used. Here they are!

Beautiful Boy - I'll have to look up the artist, I can't remember offhand! It's by John Lennon, and I love that it had an Asian influence (likely because of Yoko Ono.)

For Such a Time as This - Wayne Watson (This is from years and years ago. I used to listen to it in my dad's car on the way to school a lot, and I'm so glad I remembered it.)

Bless Your Name Forevermore - Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (Our choir sang this and I instantly knew I wanted to use it. I generally love the Brooklyn Tab and their style.)

Thanks Be To Our God - Travis Cottrell (This is from his newest album, and we sang it with him as our closing song when he did a concert at our church. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. Probably one of the most worshipful songs I've ever heard, and our ultimate emotion with this adoption has been gratitude to God.)

I'm a big music person, and I spent a long, LONG time figuring out the perfect songs to use. This sounds bad, but I didn't want the typical, cliched songs used in adoption videos. I wanted it to reflect us and our attitudes toward this journey. Please feel free to share our video so that more people can understand what a blessing adoption is!

We're gearing up for Christmas, and I think I'm turning a corner with this sickness I've had for over a week. This week has actually been very low-key and just what we needed. I'm making notes of some changes I want to make next year in our schedule. I don't necessarily have regrets, but this year has been MUCH too frenzied for my taste. I think my body literally gave out, and I've learned my lesson. :) These last few days have been good for me, because I've been able to really dwell in the Christmas season. I hope everyone is getting ready for a wonderful Christmas weekend!

Liam's Adoption Story

2011-12-22T01:33:00.000-06:00

Pause the music playlist in the right-hand column so you can hear the video.

After a lot of time, sorting through emotions, and waiting on pictures to be edited, I was finally able to complete Liam's adoption video. The biggest thing to me was choosing which songs to use, because in every adoption video I've seen (and I've watched tons), it's the music that really sets the tone and sends the message. I hope our message is clear in this video, as we share the journey to our son.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Our Christmas Card and Letter 2011

2011-12-16T23:45:00.002-06:00

I know EVERYONE says this, but it really is true: I wish I could send everyone a Christmas card! It's seriously one of my very favorite things about Christmastime. I just look forward to the mail every day! Here is our Christmas card and letter this year. We had our pictures taken by Arevalo Photography, and we LOVE Deanna! She was a genius with the kids, and we were so pleased. I'll share better quality pictures in another post. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

“The Mighty One has done great things for us. Holy is His name!” Luke 1:49

Merry Christmas 2011 from the Lancaster family! It has been a VERY eventful year for our family, and we are amazed at what God has done. In January, we took a family trip with the Lancasters to DISNEY WORLD! It was Evy’s first trip and she was just beside herself! She loved every single second! Kurt and I loved watching her experience it all. We can’t wait to go back (as usual)! In February, Evy Kate turned 2 years old, and we had a Mickey and Minnie themed party. We still can’t believe that she’s getting as old as she is – what will we do when she’s a teenager, etc.?!

In March, we received a life-changing phone call: our adoption agency told us that we had been referred a healthy, 8-month-old baby boy!!! Kurt and I were visiting Jackson, Mississippi at the time and I was by myself in the hotel room when I received the call. It was the most incredible feeling! A few minutes later we saw our son’s face for the first time, and in the following months it was a roller coaster of figuring out when and how to get him home! We decided to name him William “Liam” Mark, in honor of many special men in our family. In the spring, I had the huge blessing of THREE dear friends visiting! One of those visits included a Royal Wedding viewing party! Seeing so many of my friends was the most fun I’ve had in awhile!

In June, Kurt and I both celebrated our birthdays as well as our 4^th anniversary! It was also very exciting for us to welcome C.J., our newest nephew, into the world! He is precious and Evy is officially very outnumbered on the Lancaster side of the family. J We spent many summer days at our local waterpark, making visits to north Mississippi, and continuing the long wait to bring Liam home. We had a wonderful time in July visiting Texas to see some of my relatives. We really enjoyed taking Evy to a few museums and we made wonderful memories together.

In August, we got the news that Liam had been submitted for his exit permit out of Korea! This was huge news, because we were at the very end of the “quota” that Korea allows each year. We were so, so grateful to God that we would see our son within months. On October 11, I received the other life-changing call of the year – TRAVEL CALL!!! It was so surreal to plan our trip to Korea! My dad came with us to help, and to say that he was an asset is a HUGE understatement! We went to our adoption agency in Korea on October 18^th and Liam was handed to us by the sweetest, godliest foster family we could’ve prayed for. Along with the birth of Evy, it was the most profound thing that we have ever experienced. We felt the presence of God in that room, and we were overcome as we watched Liam’s foster family circle around and pray over him. We were blown away that God would be so gracious to give us a strong Christian foster family, but why are we ever surprised at God’s goodness?! The trip was absolutely amazing, and Liam showed signs of bonding and attaching quickly.

Since coming home, Liam has continued to adjust so well! We are so amazed at how well he’s doing. He’s sleeping wonderfully, and Evy is the best big sister in the world. We had no doubts that she would love Liam and take care of him, but they are so sweet together. They always hug each other in the mornings, and I often see them holding hands in the car. God is so good!

This fall, Kurt and I, along with our choir, had the awesome privilege of singing with Travis Cottrell in concert at our church. I’m not sure that I’ve ever worshipped like that in my life. Again, the spirit of God was in that place! Between the adoption and the concert (and more!), Kurt and I are overwhelmed with praise and our hearts are so full. We have spent these most recent months settling into life as a family of four, and we find that it has its challenges, but we love it!

Kurt is still enjoying work and getting to know his coworkers more every day. He has really grown in church leadership this year. We, along with another couple, were asked to start a new Lifegroup class for Young Marrieds and we’re learning a lot about ourselves and the Lord through that process. Kurt is the lead teacher and I’m so proud and amazed at his diligence each week. I am also very proud to say that Kurt was recently elected a deacon in our church – there’s no better person for that role, in my humble opinion. J I am still blogging and enjoying that as a hobby and ministry. I’ve really enjoyed settling into life in Cape this year, and growing some friendships. I’m really thankful for the friends that God has given me here – they bless me every day. I’m incredibly fulfilled in being Kurt’s wife and Evy and Liam’s Mommy!

Evy is most definitely in a Disney Princess phase, and she is adorable! She’s talking NONSTOP and observing so many things. She helps me all the time with Liam (especially with fetching diapers) and I hear her “teaching” him things all the time. We like to say that Evy is the best English teacher there is – ha! She is LOVING her music class at church and sings every single song at the top of her lungs. Just when I think she can’t possibly get any cuter, she DOES. Liam adores her, and he is picking up on some English (we think!). He is babbling and making noises, but no solid words yet. He is walking like a champ and is teething up a storm. He also loves church and enjoys his little classes so much. He is also a cuddle baby when it’s bedtime and that’s just a dream come true. I love holding him close and knowing that he’ll be with us forever.

It’s surreal for me to be writing this letter knowing that 2011 was when we added our second child to the family. We know that God has much in store for us. This journey of adoption has totally expanded our worldview and stretched our hearts to a different place. We see children differently (every orphan now has the face of Evy and Liam to us), we view ministry differently (we are to literally be the hands and feet of Christ), and we have confirmed that we will be open to either pregnancy OR adoption for each of our subsequent children. We started out with the desire to blend adopted and biological children, and this has only increased. We are in the process of finalizing Liam’s adoption (it should be complete in the spring of 2012), and are so excited to see what God does.

This year, I’ve been reminded over and over that Joseph, in essence, was the adoptive earthly father of Jesus. Jesus didn’t originate from him, but he loved and raised Him. I’ve also been reminded that adoption is the clearest picture we have as humans to what takes place when we receive Jesus into our lives and He adopts us into His family. I will never view my salvation the same way because of what we’ve experienced with Liam. We are forever changed and we really can claim the verse at the top of this letter – we praise His holy name!

Love in Christ this Christmas from Kurt, Ashley, Evy, and Liam

Owl Babies

2011-12-16T15:44:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of Evy and Liam that I snapped in mid November. I think they capture their relationship really well and I am just so sentimental when I look at them. :)

Christmas Tea and Home Tour

2011-12-16T00:45:00.001-06:00

Each year our Women's Ministry at church does a Christmas Tea and Home Tour! About 20 women decorate and "host" a table (which is what I did this year), and we listen to a speaker. Then we tour the homes of four women who have opened their homes for us to see (which I did last year), and it's so fun! Here are pictures from this year's event. It's a lot of pictures, but I thought it might provide some good table ideas!

This is my table. I used everything I already had at home. Since I conveniently collect crowns, I made my theme "The Birthday of a King." I really love how it turned out!

I did rent the table cloth, topper, and napkins from a rental place, but it was very inexpensive. I couldn't figure out what to do with the napkins, so I just folded them into a rectangle and put them under the plates. It ended up adding more color and I really liked it.

Last June for my birthday, my mom gave me these crown plates! I use them as my everyday plates now, and it was perfect for the theme of the table. That's actually what gave me the theme idea! I wrote "The birthday of the King" in gold paint pen on a bookmark-size piece of cardstock so the ladies who sat at my table could take home a bookmark to remember the event if they wanted to.

In the center of the table, I used a pedestal I had and I put an iron crown on top. I put baby Jesus in the middle of the crown, because I wanted the emphasis to be on Him!

Our whole fellowship hall was filled with beautiful tables. I included pictures of each one so you could see them and maybe steal a few ideas!

That Saturday was so hectic! That morning, Kurt and I had choir practice. I finished decorating my table on one of our breaks during rehearsal, and that's when I snapped the above pictures. I quickly drove home to change clothes for the Christmas Tea and Tour. My dad was babysitting Evy and Liam, and this is what I saw when I arrived. So cute!!

I changed clothes and hurried back to church. We had a WONDERFUL speaker, who is a friend of mine from church. She is so wise and gifted in mothering and being a woman of God. She has kids that are elementary age, and I look forward to using her as a mentor when we formally begin homeschooling. She gave great ideas on intentionally celebrating Christ and making HIM the focus during the Christmas season. Again, I plan to share her great ideas soon!

I snapped a picture with my sweet friend Courtney, who sat at my table. I love her so much!

I also took a picture with my dear friends Whitney and Emily, who I grew up with here at Lynwood. Being connected with them again brings me so much joy!

After the church event, I went home and was able to rest for a bit. Then Em and Whit came over with their babies Wyatt and Brynn (and Emily has a baby girl on the way!!). The kids played a little and we got to catch up before Emily went back home to St. Louis. It was so fun, and I hope we can be diligent in setting up more girl time. :) Just for the record: I look like SHLUMP VILLE in this picture. I changed into my comfy clothes (um, obviously) and my two friends still look super adorable. But hey, I was COMFY. Haha!

Right after the girls left, Kurt and I made a stop at a Lifegroup Christmas party (that merits its own post and pictures). It was a full day, and thankfully we haven't had TOO many of those this season. I've really enjoyed every single thing we've done and I'm extra thankful for our church, friends, family, and most importantly - Jesus!

Welcome to Our Home at Christmas!

2011-12-14T16:45:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas! Our house is decorated for the season, and I'm really enjoying how it turned out. I kept it simple and it's been great this year. :)

Here is the entry table in our foyer. I like how the cross wall is reflected in the mirror!

This is my treasured nativity scene that my Dad brought me from Israel. I have an angel plaque behind it, because it reminds me of what the heavenly host of angels might have been like!

This is the mantle! I really liked how it turned out. This year, I put a green wreath on the mirror that coordinates with the garland. I love the fresh green color against all of my neutrals. I added a few of my crowns that I have around the house, a picture of Liam and Evy, and two cherubs that I got on Zulily for a great deal!

I designed our stockings and Kurt's mom made them for me. She's so incredibly talented and I love that our stockings are handmade - it makes them very sentimental.

I hardly bought anything new this year, but I did find a couple of pillows in the Pottery Barn catalog that I just loved.

This was the only other new thing I bought this year - a nest with two eggs inside. It represents that this is Liam's first Christmas with us, and whenever I look at it in the future, it will remind me of when we had two little babies in our nest. :)

This is where I have some pretty trees, some great angel wings from Zulily, and a pretty Advent calendar.

I also have a bowl that holds all of our Christmas cards that we receive! I would say that Christmas cards are probably one of my very favorite things about the season!

I put one of my nativity sets in the kitchen. My Nana gave me this one and I love it! I forgot to take a picture, but I also spelled out NOEL using Hobby Lobby letters behind my cooking range.

This is the breakfast table. My Aunt Karen sent me this precious cherub from Dallas! We have almost the exact same style in decorating and when she spots things she'll sometimes send me a treat in the mail. :)

This is a little table right next to the breakfast area. I attached my homemade angel wings to my picture hanger with clothespins! I like how it looks homespun and imperfect. I had my angel wings above the fireplace last year, but I wanted a change. I really like them here in the kitchen area. I get asked this a LOT - the wings are simply made of cardboard, hot glue, and acrylic paint! That's it!

This is also my little nod to England, which I adore so much. I ordered the Advent calendar from England and it's a Buckingham Palace Christmas scene. I LOVE IT. I bought the Big Ben Old World ornament when I went to a Christmas Cabin shop with some friends.

This is the dining room, which is really starting to come together! It's taken forever, and for a long time I was afraid I would just never settle on something I liked. A big difference is the lamps, which is a long story. But I love how it's looking!

The lamp story: I found two lamp bases that were really inexpensive at a craft mall. I thought it would be easy to find two lamp shades. WRONG. I couldn't find any ANYWHERE that worked. I literally went all over town, and I was under pressure because we had a party to host and I needed the extra light in the room. I will spare you the details, but I finally went back to Hobby Lobby for the millionth time and they had just put two gold lampshades back in stock. And they worked! :) Another big change is that I added gold chandelier shades, which I found at Lowe's.

Evy Kate was so excited to decorate a special tree for her room. I took the white tree that's in my office year-round and we put Disney Princess ornaments all over it. I let her decorate it herself and I wouldn't change it for the world!

Another recent change: in getting ready to make the "big girl room" transition, I decided to put cornice boards on Evy's windows. The toile curtains were already there, but it needed more. I decided to use more of the toile and it gives it such a beautiful look - very English, which of course I love!

Thank you for visiting our home for Christmas - our goal is that the presence of the Lord is always felt here first and foremost. We are so thankful for our home and feel very blessed to raise our family here. Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Downtown Cape

2011-12-13T14:55:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of the month, our downtown area had a Christmas "open-house" where all of the businesses were open later. You got a packet of tickets and at each store you visited, you could enter to win in a drawing. Kurt was out of town (running the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis!), and we missed him! We enjoyed the atmosphere so much! It confirmed to me why I love our town so much - there are a lot of old-fashioned qualities to it. It was a wonderful evening!

Ready to see the festivities with Papa and Pinka!

Hutson's Furniture has an old-fashioned storefront and they always do a wonderful display!

Of course we had to pose by Mickey and Minnie!

One of my favorite shops, Renaissance.

We thought this was particularly interesting.

The Town Crier added to the atmosphere!

I love Pastimes Antiques!

Pasttimes had live mannequins in the window, modeling vintage fashions. It was so neat!

We ran into Whitney and Bryn! We love our little friends!

The bridge to Illinois.

The picture is blurry, but I think it shows how quaint our downtown is!

They were giving horse-drawn carriage rides around the square, but the line was atrociously long. We even got there early to try to get a good spot in line, but it was already too long! Maybe next year. :)

Hutson's Furniture

Afterward, we went to Gigi and Papa's house for chili. Yum!

I love this picture!

Liam helped decorate Papa and Gigi's tree.

And Evy helped too!

The most adorable little girl in the WORLD!

The Christmas Party That Wasn't

2011-12-13T14:22:00.000-06:00

Last night was one of the worst we've had in awhile. I ended up getting a fever with chills, Kurt was in a lot of pain from his foot surgery, and the kids were awake off and on all night from yuckiness. At 2:00am I was standing over Evy's crib (for at least the 5th time) and I just went ahead and sent out a message to my friends that I couldn't host the party. Going on on a limb, I said that if anyone was willing to open their home they could just come get everything from my house. Kristal texted me at 8:00 this morning and offered her house so the party could go on. :)

I don't cancel things unless I'm really, really sick and this was one of those times. I still don't feel great. The kids are fussy and not themselves, and with Kurt being out of commission, it just made for a really bad scenario. My mom and sister (Alyssa, who's home from college) came over this morning to help and I would've been seriously up a creek without them. It's times like this that I'm extra thankful I have family in town. I feel so bad and guilty being on the couch when they're chasing after my grumpier-than-normal kids, etc. I just hate it. And I was so extra sad to miss this party. It was something I was really looking forward to, but some things just aren't meant to be. I know Kristal snapped pictures at the party, but I took a few before she gathered the stuff.

I had rented a kid-size table and chairs where we could decorate.

The table set-up. Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever posted pictures of my mirrors that I added in the dining room. There they are!

I got a white sheet cake so I could put the Little People nativity on top. It says "Happy Birthday Jesus!"

I made homemade "candy cane" playdough for favors.

This was for hot chocolate. I had marshmellows, caramels, and those chocolate wafer sticks.

Several of my friends have let me know that they enjoyed the party and that everything went well. I saved a couple of gingerbread houses for Evy and Liam to decorate once we all feel better. It's a good reminder that Christmas isn't about parties and "fluff." Those things are great, but the main thing is simply Jesus. :)

BUSY BUSY

2011-12-12T18:47:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone :)

It feels like forever since I blogged last! We've been swamped the last few days. We had our church Christmas program this weekend, and we hosted the party for the worship ministry afterward. WHEW. It was a great time though, and at least my house is really clean (thanks to my mom and Kurt's mom, who helped so much!).

Our Christmas worship program went well, and we had a huge crowd at church. However, right after everyone left my house last night, my throat started KILLING me. I think tons of singing (between rehearsals and the program itself) and bad sinus stuff kicked in. I went to bed and woke up feeling HORRIBLE with sinus/throat mess. On top of that, Kurt had minor foot surgery this morning, and he's in a walking boot now. So this morning my dad brought Kurt home from his surgery and I was on the couch, feeling like my head weighed 50 pounds. After dad left, Kurt and I were BOTH on the couch (he had to prop his leg) and the kids were thankfully playing within sight. It was awful - we were two invalids with two toddlers. I doped up on medicine and continued with my day because I'm hosting a kids Christmas party tomorrow. Several of my friends are taking off of work and one is coming in from out of town, so postponing wasn't an option. Thankfully, I feel better with medicine in my system and I know it's nothing contagious. So onward with the party we go. It should be really cute and fun, I just want to enjoy it and not stress.

This weekend we're heading to north Mississippi again to have Christmas with Kurt's side of the family. This was the only time we could make it work with everyone's schedules, so Christmas will be coming early for the Lancasters. :) I think all of my presents are bought, I just need to wrap them.

In some ways I feel like December is flying by and I'm trying to grab onto it and hold on. In other ways, I feel like we've done a pretty good job of soaking in the season. It's weird to feel two ways at once...? After the party tomorrow, I think things will really slow down, because I don't have any more "responsibilities." It's just family celebrations and enjoying spending time with them. I'm constantly trying to evaluate how much we do during Christmas, and I think I might scale back a little next year even more (as far as hosting things goes). Hospitality is something I enjoy, but I think I've had a few too many things in a row this year. I'm glad it's only December 12th and I have the rest of the season to enjoy! I do try to have a "front-heavy" December, where our responsibilites and "stress" are on the front end of the month. It really does help a lot.

As a sidenote, I'm going to write a post about some Advent-y types of things. We had a great speaker at our Christmas ladies event recently, and also I've read a few things that I really like. I'll be honest - we haven't done formal Advent this year. We just haven't. I also don't feel guilty about it, in the sense that I feel like we're doing things on Evy and Liam's level that prepares them for Christmas. And that's what Advent is all about anyway - preparing for Jesus' coming. Anyway, I'm still going to post some things. :)

I think that catches you up and lets you know I'm still alive. Hopefully tonight I can get everything prepped for the party and then post some picture updates. :) Hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season!

Celebrate Christmas with Mike and Robyn

2011-12-09T00:54:00.000-06:00

Kurt and I had a special evening to go and see Mr. Dumey's Christmas show! His show business partner, Robyn, had taken the year off last year and so I was glad to see her back in the show! Before we left, we attempted a picture.

This shows our life right now - love it!

Love Mike and Robyn!

Mr. Dumey "surprised" me and Kurt by having us be participants in the show. We acted out a Romeo and Juliet-type of skit and just followed his directions - we had no clue we were going to be doing this! Mr. Dumey said he wanted to make sure he had trained me well in 7th grade music/theater. Ha! Here's a side of me you don't see often on the blog.......

It was a great night of fun and ringing in the Christmas season. I'll probably say this a million times during the course of the season, but I am so thankful to be back in what I consider to be my hometown. There are so many fun things to do and memories to make. I'm so glad Christmas is here!

Thanksgiving Part Two

2011-12-09T00:38:00.000-06:00

When we got home from our trip to Mississippi, we got to see my mom's parents, Nana and Poppy! It was fun to extend our Thanksgiving celebration! :)

I love this picture of Poppy and Evy!

Look at that big princess smile!

I had wanted to see my parents' dining room decorated for Thanksgiving, so Mom kept it set. :) This was our first holiday using my great-grandmother's dining room furniture that my mom inherited. Thankfully Nan is still with us, but she wanted Mom to have the set early for us to enjoy. We thought about Nan the entire time!

This was too cute! Evy started playing with an old curling iron (NOT plugged in, of course!) and Kay Kay showed her how to use it. It was adorable!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and created some great new memories. Having Liam home for his first Thanksgiving with us was extra special!

Thanksgiving Part One

2011-12-05T01:02:00.000-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving visiting Kurt's family in north Mississippi! We had a wonderful weekend full of family time!

Aunt Jen Jen and Liam had some special time right away!

My Littles :)

Tea with Daddy Willie!

Evy took very good care of her Disney Babies at Mia and Randad's house!

I couldn't get over how cute she was!

Everyone has commented on how Liam is always smiling. Well here's your proof that's not always the case - ha! He was LOVING the Cozy Coupe and we were needing to share with Sissy/Cousin Josh, so this was a fun experience for all (can't you tell?).

Yup, still not happy. Even in a super cute "Baby's First Thanksgiving" outfit.

Kelly (Kurt's twin) was in charge of the turkey, and he decided to fry it. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!! This was when he was injecting it with Cajun Creole Butter.

Josh was helping Liam with the wheels - cutest thing ever!

Liam's pit crew.

Here we go!

Everyone wanted to watch the turkey frying in action!

The Harrell (Kurt's mom's) side of the family. So many great people in this room!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

We put all the cousins in matching pajamas for Mr. Randy and Mrs. Pam's Christmas card picture. Here are our two with their grandparents!

Size-wise, they really do look like twins sometimes!

Here's a fun outtake....

And another....

And yet another!

And here's the winning shot (after about 90 attempts, screaming/yelling/jumping/dancing adults, meltdowns, etc.)! From left to right: Josh (Kurt's twin brother's son), C.J. (Kurt's older brother's son) and our two!

A relative on Mrs. Pam's side of the family, Aunt Margreet, is in her 90s and lives in Texas. She is famous around her area for making hundreds of quilts and giving most of them away. She made Evy a quilt!!! It's so gorgeous and a family treasure!

On our way out of town the next day, we stopped at Mr. Randy's parents' house. They live on a farm and it was a gorgeous day!

Momma Dot's kitchen is straight out of Mad Men, and I love to analyze it - haha!

We couldn't resist taking pictures!

Part Two of our Thanksgiving is coming next!

Christmas Lights Tradition!

2011-12-03T00:55:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, we started our month-long Christmas celebration (haha!)! We do different things throughout the month so it's festive for as long as possible. Our town has a drive-through lights display in one of our parks. Different businesses, churches, and individuals put out different displays and it's so fun!

When I was growing up, I remember wearing our pajamas and driving through town looking at Christmas lights. When we lived here in Missouri the first time (1994-2000), I would always ask if we could drive through the neighborhood where we now live, because I liked it so much. :) Isn't that crazy!? Anyway, my siblings and I would wear pajamas and we would drive around. I wanted to continue that tradition in my family, so we put Evy and Liam in their pajamas (Kurt and I wore ours too) and we headed to the park!

The dynamic duo.

I love our town. :)

We laughed at this one, because the figures were meticulously aligned (not sure if you can tell in the picture). We decided whoever put this one up has OCD.

This is our church's display!

Evy was beside herself when she saw a Disney-themed display!

Meanwhile, Liam was in a more pensive mood.

When we got home, Evy was sitting in the chair and Thomasina came and cuddled with her. It was so cute!

I love creating memories like this!

Strollers and Shoeboxes

2011-11-28T00:36:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official - we own a double stroller! I knew it would be the only way for me to attempt outings on my own, and I know we'll get great use out of it. We had some gift cards to Target, so I went to the store and this was the only kind they had. It ended up being nice, because I wasn't stuck there for 30 minutes trying to make a decision! It's a BabyTrend Sit and Stand, and it has lots of configurations. Here we are modeling the new ride:

Kurt's mom gave the kids their inaugural ride!

This was a special year for us to do Operation Christmas Child, because Evy is at the age where she understands more concepts like this. I picked out the items at Target (the Dollar Bin section was GREAT!), and brought it all home. She helped me pack four boxes and we talked about the little girls who would receive these boxes. I explained that they don't have any toys, and we want to give some to them. But most of all we want to tell them about Jesus. The biggest hit was that I bought Evy some Christmas Belle (Disney Princess) socks, just like the ones we included in the boxes. So every time Evy puts on her socks, she says "The guls (girls) have these TOO!" It's so, so sweet and makes me so determined to raise ministry-minded children (and become more ministry-minded myself). I am so excited to do more projects as a family where we serve others!

Meeting the Staff

2011-11-27T16:02:00.000-06:00

Soon after Liam arrived home, I took him to meet some of the staff at Dad's office. We also let him explore the preschool area and walk around the church to get familiar with it (this was before he had been to church at all). We had a great time!

Dad's secretary printed out this picture while we were in Korea so everyone could see Liam!

The first thing Liam took interest in was Dad's prayer bench (that my grandfather made)!

My two littles!

Some of the staff that we got to see!

Checking out the sanctuary....

I love this picture :)

Such an answer to prayer!

Thanks Be To Our God!

2011-11-24T11:43:00.000-06:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that our choir had the privilege and blessing of singing with Travis Cottrell last week. There were many powerful moments during that concert, where we all felt like we were going to just see Christ return at any moment. Our very last song with Travis was "Thanks Be to Our God." It was one of those really personal songs, where we knew every member of our choir was expressing thanks to God for what He has done in our lives. I never want to forget what that felt like, to collectively praise God at that level.
This Thanksgiving, I want to share these song lyrics with you (sadly I couldn't find a video), because it expresses my heart perfectly. Kurt and I, along with all of our families, are just in awe of what God has done.

For the road that leads from darkness into light,

For the hope that rescues from endless night,

For the grace covers sin, at the the door where life begins,

For salvation reaching in to guide us through,

Thanks be to our God.

For the healing that no mortal can explain,

For deliverance that breaks the sinner's chains,

For the strength to carry on, and forgiveness great and strong,

And the promise of your mercies ever new,

Thanks be to our God.

Hallelujah! Everlasting songs will rise

For all you've done.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thanks be to our God!

For the emptiness that cries out to be filled,

For the promise that your word is deeper still,

For the longing and the need, to have more of you in me,

Because nothing satifies the way you do,

Thanks be to our God!

Hallelujah! Everlasting songs will rise

For all you've done.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thanks be to our God!

For the mysterious beyond the veil of death,

For the peace that opens with our closing breath,

When our struggles pass away, and we finally see your face,

And a greater glory rises into you.

Thanks be to our God!

Hallelujah! Everlasting songs will rise

For all you've done.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thanks be to our God!

Hallelujah! Everlasting songs will rise

For all you've done.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thanks be to our God!

Hallelujah! Everlasting songs will rise

For all you've done.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Thanks be to our God!

Christmas Fun

2011-11-23T15:16:00.000-06:00

Like I said in my last post, we are always wanting to focus on spending time together as a family during the Christmas season. Especially now that Liam is here, we're excited to create new memories together! Here are some fun things we're doing:

- Kurt and I are going to have a date to see Mr. Dumey's Christmas Dinner Show! I KNOW I've talked about him before, but Mr. Dumey was my 7th grade choir director, and he totally and completely changed how I viewed singing, performance, etc. He was, by far, one of my favorite teachers I've ever had. Each year he directs a Christmas dinner show that includes a great meal and great entertainment! Kurt and I went last year and it's a really happy memory for us.

-We will be having rehearsals for our Christmas worship program at church! The program will be on December 11th, and it will be so awesome.

-Speaking of, we offered to host the choir Christmas party at our house after the program! We want to practice hospitality and open our home to others, and this was a great way to help serve.

-We will drive through the Christmas light display at one of our local parks. This is so much fun because we we listen to Christmas music and make a fun evening out of it!

-We are going to do something new this year and go see the live nativity called "Road to Bethlehem." It's in another nearby town, but you walk through the "town of Bethlehem" and enjoy what that must have been like. I think the kids will really enjoy it!

-I'd like to go and see the historic Glenn House all decorated for Christmas!

-I'm looking forward to watching some Christmas shows/movies! This is a great way to keep up with what's coming on!

-I'm hosting a small Christmas party for some of Evy and Liam's little friends, which will be so cute. We'll just do some fun Christmasy crafts and such. :)

-Like I mentioned before, we are excited to participate in the Food Basket ministry as well as provide Christmas for the Christian Actvities Center.

-We're going to do something for Advent, and we're still working out what that will be for our little ones. It will probably just involve a nightly short discussion about Christmas and talking about the nativity, etc. We'll just keep it to their age level and have fun with it.

-My friend Whitney and I are obsessed with the Tudor period of English history, so we're going to try and get tickets to one of the high school's Madrigal Feasts. I hope we can make it work!

-We'll be going to Kurt's parents' to celebrate Christmas the weekend before Christmas. Since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, it was hard to figure out our travel schedule! Since we rotate holidays, we'll be home for Christmas this year. I hate that we have to be at the Lancasters' a whole week before Christmas and not closer to the day, but unfortunately that's how it fell with Kurt's work schedule. However, we're thankful and excited to spend whatever time we can with Kurt's family! It's always strange for me to have Christmas in my own house since I grew up traveling, but I like that every other year we'll be at our house, and the other years we'll be at the Lancasters'. It's the best of both!

I'm sure there's more we'll be up to, but that's a good synopsis. This is my favorite time of the year, and I can't believe it's already here. It will be Liam's first Christmas with us, which is incredibly special. What are some special things you do each Christmas?

It's Different This Year.

2011-11-23T14:08:00.001-06:00

We are here at Kurt's parents' and having a great time so far! We are celebrating Thanksgiving here, and then we'll head home on Friday to see my mom's parents who are in town. Very sadly, we'll just miss seeing my dad's parents who are there right now! :( But we look forward to making another Texas trip to spend time with them!

So, here's where I am with Christmas. Honestly, it's been very different for me this year. Usually I'm in full festive swing by late October/early November. I'm not one of those who ignores Thanksgiving - I love it! I just usually am in the holiday mindset pretty early. And that wasn't the case this year. I'm not sure what it was. I think being in Korea for a week, adding our second child to the family, overcoming jetlag, and settling into life with two kids probably had something to do with it? Ha! I've just felt so off-kilter with everything.

Another thing that totally threw me: I lost all of our data on our external hard drive. Long story short, I think it got damaged in transit to Korea. I had meant to double check and make sure everything was backed up in another place, but it just didn't get done. I'm completely backed up until March or April 2011, but after that I'm having to piece pictures back together from Facebook and the blog. It has really messed me up, simply because I'm angry with myself for not being more diligent in backing things up. And I haven't bought a new hard drive yet, so things are just sitting in random places. It's like a weight on my shoulders that won't go away. I know that once I take the time to sit down and tackle it, I'll feel better. Because of this, I haven't created the photo calendar that I usually give to all of our family, and I'm just going to have to make the announcement that they might be late this year. This is the downside of a Type A personality - letting things go, telling people something might be late, etc., absolutely kills me. It kills me. But the Lord and I have been working on this, and part of that is me being really convicted about "STUFF" this year.

I'm not one of those who all of a sudden thinks that we shouldn't celebrate Christmas because of the "commercialism" or refuse to take part in festivities because we should only be doing philanthropic work during the holidays. There has to be a balance. However, I put up my tree the other day and left it bare for a good week. Every time I thought about decorating it, I just wasn't ready. The only way I know to describe it is that I was having to process what it means to have your own celebration while still recognizing the povertry, sadness, and general need in the world. My mind just needed to process it.

Kurt sat down with me and we had a talk about things. He told me, "You need to understand that it's okay to have our tree up and celebrate as a family what Christmas really means. It's okay!" I just needed someone to tell me that I wasn't being disrespectful to the orphan crisis, or world hunger, or homelessness, etc. etc. by decorating a tree.

And I still LOVE Christmas! It's just the excess that is really getting to me this year. I online-shopped for my gifts, and I still love giving gifts to friends and family. And my kids will still get a few gifts. And my house is still decorated (minus a few things). But when I see people talking about how long their Christmas lists are, or I see a pair of $500 boots, or people complaining about the PETTIEST things. . .I've been extra upset this year. It has REALLY bothered me!

Some might think that it's because we just got home from Korea and what that did to our perspective, etc. But honestly, Liam didn't come from a third-world country. He wasn't starving. I still think that his adoption is just as meaningful as a starving child in Africa, and who knows - Kurt and I might be called to adopt from a situation like that in the future. The only way I can explain my level of conviction this year is that it just came from the Lord. I got the Samaritan's Purse gift catalog in the mail and couldn't take my eyes from it. I could NOT bring myself to throw it away. I also read posts like this from my friend Debbi who is in the process of adopting Crew from Ethiopia.

Here's the conundrum with blogging - the minute you're transparent with your feelings or convictions, people are very quick to examine you and let you know if you're being hypocritical. And I'm going to be honest with you: I'm still sorting through what all of this means for us. I'm still figuring out the balance between celebrating Christmas and just how different it should look from the traditional model. The only reason I'm writing this is to get it off my chest and share my heart. Like I said, my kids are still getting a few gifts, and my house is still decorated. We're still going to do some Christmasy things! And we're going to enjoy doing it!

I do want to share some things that we're doing (or did) this year. Like I said, I shopped Samaritan's Purse a lot. You can give a sheep to a family who needs it, feed a baby for a week, give a life-saving mosquito net, etc. And all of the gifts can be given in honor of your loved ones! While I did buy a few gifts for Evy and Liam, they're getting about three things. I'm going to clear out the toys we don't use and give them to Goodwill so that other children can play with them. I'm also going to go through Evy's clothes and only keep the ones that are special (in case we have other girls). The rest will go to a friend so they won't just be sitting in bins. We packed 4 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Evy helped me with this and it was so, so meaningful (pictures coming soon!)! We are participating in our church's Food Basket ministry, and I want us to go and help deliver the baskets if our schedule allows. We are providing Christmas for a little girl at the Christian Activities Center in St. Louis (a very, very poor area of that city). We are providing Christmas for two children in the Angel Tree ministry (whose parents are in prison). I'm NOT listing off this things to be boastful or to show how benevolent we are!!!! PLEASE understand. I'm only sharing these things because you might be interested in doing the same.

Truthfully, I've always felt like we do well in the "don't overdo it" area of Christmas. We've always been aware of needs and have limited the over-abundance. But we need to do more. The point of this post is not so that we can all start comparing each other's "good deeds" and judge each other's decisions. Everyone is responsible for their own decisions and what God has called them to do. But I just wanted to share where we are this season and some things we're doing.

My next post is sharing some of the "family things" we're doing this Christmas! One of the most important things to us is just spending time together, so I thought it would be fun to share some of what we have planned. I'm sorry for the LONG post, but I wanted to just unload some stress (the external hard drive, anyone?) and share my heart!

Post Placement #1

2011-11-20T23:29:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow we will have our first Post Placement visit from our social worker. We actually started the process with a different SW, but she is no longer with Holt, so we'll be meeting Joy for the first time tomorrow.

This visit begins our process of finalizing Liam's adoption. Since we will adopt Liam through the United States government (and not Korea), we are technically only his foster family/guardians at this point. In Missouri, there are two hearings that take place in court - the first transfers custody over to us and the second is to finalize the adoption. We will have three Post Placement visits at 1, 3, and 6 months home. After each of these visits, our social worker will write reports based on her interviews with us and her observations of Liam. These reports are then used in our finalization process.

I'm just glad to get the ball rolling! This is also a special milestone, because tomorrow will mark exactly one month since Liam came home! WOW! I can't believe we have been home a month. I really don't feel like I came out of the fog until we had been home about two weeks, but these past two weeks have been really good. We have started to settle into somewhat of a routine, and it has been WONDERFUL to be back in church and involved like we're used to. :)

Now that the holidays are starting (YAY!!), I know we'll create some great memories and just enjoy being together. I'm going to write a post about my thoughts on Christmas this year. It's been different for me this year, but in a good way. I'll share soon. :)

Pray that our social worker sees how much Liam loves us and how much we love him, and that everything goes smoothly!

When the Stars Burn Down

2011-11-18T15:32:00.000-06:00

Today was so fun! My family ate lunch with Travis Cottrell and his worship team. They are here to do a concert with our choir tonight, and we are so excited! For those who aren't familiar with Travis, he's an incredible worship leader and very prominent in the Christian music industry. You've probably heard him sing "In Christ Alone." Although he didn't write that song, he made it incredibly popular. Travis has a new album out called "When the Stars Burn Down." Our choir will be singing some of these new songs with him as well as classics like "In Christ Alone" and "Revelation Song." It's going to be an incredible evening.

For me and Kurt to be able to say that we've sung with Travis is such an honor, and we know God will do incredible things!

Veteran's Day Speech from my Grandfather

2011-11-15T22:58:00.000-06:00

My mom's father, my Poppy, is a retired Brig. General in the United States Air Force. But beyond that, he is one of the most incredible sources of information, wisdom, and thought-provoking anecdotes that I've ever had the privilege to be in company and conversation with. It's still unreal to me that God would choose for me to be born into such a family as that of my grandfather (I can say the same of my dad's father as well). As I get older, I am more and more humbled and grateful for the legacy that's mine.

On Veteran's Day, my grandfather was asked to speak for two engagements. We have the footage of his invocation during the opening ceremonies for the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Northwest Arkansas. I will cherish this footage forever, not just because of the words spoken, but of watching my grandfather in uniform. I've seen him in it a handful of times during my life, and without a doubt, it is more and more special each time.

I wanted to share his words with you so you can get a glimpse of the incredible man he is. Pause my music in the right-hand column so you can hear the video. As a sidenote, I've had the privilege of traveling the world with my grandfather, and one of our trips was to Washington, D.C. when I was around 13 years old. You'll hear him reference Bob Utley, who served during D-Day. I had the honor of meeting Bob and his wife when we visited D.C., and he was such a special, sweet man. There just aren't enough words in my heart when I listen to this invocation and the memories it brings to my mind that I have with my grandfather. I'm so thankful.

I love you, Poppy!

TV + Biography = New Obsession

2011-11-14T15:56:00.000-06:00

Back in the summer, I started doing something new. I love classic TV shows, and I also love biographies. Without meaning to, I started to combine the two! It began when I bought Melissa Gilbert's biography, Prairie Tale.

I wanted to learn more about her and her perspective of her life and the show. I read that book SO QUICKLY. She gave her whole background, not just inside info about Little House. It actually helped to understand where she was emotionally when she was filming that show. Of course there were tidbits and stories and "behind the scenes" stuff that was just fascinating to me. I liked the she inserted those anecdotes into the full picture of her life. Because I felt like I knew her, it made me really sad when I learned that she filed from divorce from her husband several months ago. She had ended the book talking about how she had really settled into a happy life with Bruce and so I was surprised and very saddened to hear about the end of her marriage. I think that's what biographies do - they personalize people for you.

At the same time I had bought Melissa's book, I also bought Alison Arngrim's book (she played Nellie Olsen on the show). It fascinated me. I devoured it! She took a more comedic approach to telling her story, which is appropriate because she's a stand-up comedienne! She also told her whole story, but she focused a good bit on the Little House years. I don't think I'm giving anything away, but Alison really had a tragic childhood. I will never watch her the same way on TV. The show was really an escape for her, and that's why her performances as Nellie were so genius. I walked away with a much deeper understanding of Alison and I also LOVED the inside stories she told about the show!

Coincidentally, I had been recording and watching Little House on the Prairie while I was reading these two books. It didn't start out that way, but I love that they overlapped. I was amazed at how much it added to my experience of watching the show since I was also reading the background information!

Because I enjoyed the process of simultaneously reading and watching, I picked up Dick Van Dyke's biography: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business.

I also really enjoyed this book, but it gave me a different perspective of Dick, and I'm not sure it was a positive perspective. I'm not usually that naive person who can't watch an actor portray more than one character, but I guess I really attached to the "Burt" in Mary Poppins persona when I picked Dick Van Dyke.

But he wasn't Burt in real life. I don't want to put a totally negative spin on the book, because I did enjoy it. However, I felt like there were several narcissistic moments where he was very proud of his achievements. Also, the thing that shocked me the most was how flippantly he wrote about his affair that broke up his marriage with the mother of his four children. Did you know that Burt from Mary Poppins had an affair that ended his marriage? Yeah, I didn't either. He also shared some views on God and faith that surprised me. Again, I think I was picturing him as Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie, and he was just different in real life. I did enjoy hearing his perspective about the Dick Van Dyke Show, when he was starring with Mary Tyler Moore. It was good to read how special their relationship was.

Of course with Liam coming home, and other things keeping me busy, I haven't been reading a ton lately. But I'm the type that can't be away from reading for very long. It makes me very antsy if I'm not in a good book. So I'm about to embark on a new TV and Biography journey!

I grew up watching the Brady Bunch every single day after school while eating Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Today I realized that I miss the Brady Bunch and I really want to be nostalgic and watch it again. One episode comes on each day and I taped it for the first time today. It made me smile because I thought back to being little. :)

To correspond with the Brady's, I'm going to start reading Florence Henderson's biography, Life Is Not a Stage.

I'm excited to learn her story and her perspective! There wasn't a huge reason behind this post, but I enjoy sharing books, etc. that I've learned something from. I actually think biographies can be the best kind of book, because we're able to learn from the human experience firsthand. People are sitting down to write their stories so, in essence, we can understand them better and learn from their successes and mistakes. When the opportunity comes along to appreciate anything or anyone a little better, I place high value on that. Just thought I would share!

Liam's Adoption Annoucement from Tiny Prints

2011-11-13T22:47:00.000-06:00

Several months ago, a representative from Tiny Prints contacted me and asked me if I would want to do a product review for them. I instantly said yes because I used Tiny Prints for Evy's birth announcements and was incredibly pleased with their selection, quality, and customer service! I knew I wanted to use them again and told the representative that I would love to get Liam's announcements. The only problem was that I had no idea when I would be getting them! She was so sweet and said I could wait until he came home to get them. Well, the time is here!

Tiny Prints has a neat feature where you can put designs you like in a folder to compare and see them side by side. The problem was, I had about 8 designs I loved! It took me forever to make a decision! But once I did, I was able to adjust the fonts, spacing, and colors. I was also able to add pictures to the back, which I think ended up making the announcement just what I wanted (you'll see why).

Once I got them in the mail, they were on sturdy cardstock, which I love. It gives it an expensive feel, but these were cost-efficient and very reasonable considering the product. Everything was just as I wanted it, and the best part was that they came FAST. I chose the normal speed of shipping but it came many days before schedule.

So, enough suspense. Here are Liam's adoption announcements! You can click on the pictures of the front and back to see it bigger.

I think it perfectly reflects how we feel and how grateful we are for this journey and all God has done. We also wanted to honor Liam's foster family because they are a huge part of Liam's story. Two of the pictures on the front of the card were taken by our photographer in Korea, Romin Lee Johnson, and I snapped the picture of Evy and Liam together in our front yard. Isn't it precious?! I think the announcements turned out beautifully, and I loved working with Tiny Prints!

I encourage you to use Tiny Prints for invitations, announcements, stationery, and more. They are an awesome company and I'm pleased to endorse them!

I wish I could send everyone an announcement in the mail (just like Christmas cards)! I wanted to share it with you this way so everyone can see. :) We're so thankful to have Liam HOME and it felt so wonderful to send these in the mail! Thank you, Lord.

Fall Block Parties

2011-11-13T22:17:00.000-06:00

On the night of Halloween, our church had several block parties at people's homes around town. Growing up, we used to have one big fall festival, but the last couple of years our church has taken this approach, which gets us out into the community more. We've seen a good response to people walking up to the block parties as their kids trick or treat.

This year, Kurt was on call, so I took the babies over to my parents' house for dinner, and then we walked over one of the block parties a street over. It was the very first time a group of people had seen Liam, and he was a huge hit (of course!). It was perfect because there weren't too many people, but he was able to have a little social interaction. I didn't have a costume for Liam - it just wasn't something high on the priority list. Evy already had several princess dresses, so she chose to be Snow White for the evening. We had a lot of fun and we enjoyed keeping it low key!

This says it all!

Pinka treated Liam to his first cotton candy!

Evy Katie loved doing the ball toss!

Having fun with Ginger and Bitty!

Baby Dedication

2011-11-12T21:37:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is a special day for us! Liam will be dedicated to the Lord tomorrow morning in our worship service. Kurt's parents and grandparents are in town, and we're excited to have them here this weekend. Of course I'll post pictures when I have them, but I wanted to explain why we dedicate our children and what it means for us. It's interesting, because I actually get asked about this a lot in emails, comments, etc. So I'm not writing this to start a theological debate or offend anyone. This is what we believe and it's very important to us, so I want to answer some questions people have. If this doesn't interest you, feel free to skip it. But it's easier to write about it all in one place.

We dedicate our children to the Lord. They are not baptized as infants. We believe that according to Scripture, baptism clearly follows a person's salvation experience (that he or she has experienced when they can make the decision to follow Christ for themselves). We do not believe that baptism is required for salvation. There are several reasons, but a good example is the thief on the cross next to Jesus. He was saved minutes before his death and was not baptized. Jesus clearly stated that he would be with Him in paradise. However, we do believe that baptism is the next obedient step to show the world publicly that you've made a decision to follow Christ. It should be the natural desire of someone who has given their life to Christ to follow through with baptism.

I know many churches baptize infants but say that it's only marking that child as being in a Christian family, or it's only consecrating that child to God - not saving them. They believe that it's not salvation, but only showing that the baby is going to be raised to follow Christ. Well, that's what we do in our dedication service, and that's why we call it dedication. We believe that the term baptism refers to a one-time event that takes place after salvation. Baptism marks a willing, participating, confessing believer - not a potential believer. As John McArthur says, because of infant baptism, there are a lot of baptized non-Christians walking around. Baptism is serious, and it should be reserved for those who understand what it means. It's our personal belief that if your intent is just to "mark" the child or family, you shouldn't call that baptism, because it has nothing to do with that child's salvation; it's more of a covenant between the parents, God, and the church.

Edited to add: I want to be clear that the most important issue concerning baptism is that it is separate and not required for salvation. I believe that churches who use the word "baptism" when a dedication is really taking place are not blatantly disobeying God, and for some it could be considered a simple case of semantics (different word usage). While I believe it's important to reserve the word "baptism" for the act of immersion after salvation, I don't think it's a hill to die on, so to speak. I just wanted to explain why we use the word "dedication" instead of "baptism."

The biggest reason that we don't baptize our children is because it's not practiced in the Bible. Jesus was dedicated to the Lord as an infant by his parents (Luke 2), and was immersed in the water as an adult, to mark the beginning of His ministry (Matthew 3). While some would argue that Mary and Joseph were following Old Testament law and dedication (or "consecration") doesn't apply to us today, we still use this model of covenanting with God to do our part of raising our child in a godly home, and then one baptism by immersion when our child has made their personal commitment to Christ. We look forward to the day when we stand and watch our child (or young adult, or adult child if the case may be) stand in the water by themselves and confess that Jesus is their Lord. We as parents can't bestow the act of baptism upon our child; it must be their public act of confessing Christ as Lord.

We believe the doctrine of baptism is very important and we have made decisions according to how we interpret the Scripture. Hopefully this helps some people understand our decisions and if you would like to read more about our beliefs concerning baptism, feel free to email me. I think this goes without saying, but the purpose of this post is only to answer questions people have asked me, and I would like the comments in this post to be kept kind and non-argumentative. I have very dear friends who differ from me in this doctrine, and I'm NOT berating people who believe this way. It's healthy to examine where you stand on an issue, and sometimes that comes from talking with those who believe differently. While I believe this is a very important issue, it's something that I would choose to discuss with people one-on-one should disagreements arise. Thanks for understanding. :)

We're so blessed to have Liam in our family, and it's even more special knowing that his foster family were Christians who already were doing their part to give him a godly heritage. They dedicated themselves to loving our son and sharing Jesus with him, and we are so thankful. Tomorrow will be a special time of welcoming Liam to Lynwood and showing our congregation the little boy they've been praying for!

A Disney Princess Girl Day

2011-11-09T00:43:00.001-06:00

I mentioned previously that I had bought tickets to take Evy to a Disney Live show that was coming to our town several months ago. However, I knew our Korea trip could be anywhere around that time, and I worried that I wouldn't be able to go with Evy. I knew that other family would take her if I couldn't, but I desperately wanted to experience it with her! The Lord knew this was such a strong desire for me, and one week after we got home I took Evy to the show along with my mom and youngest sister (we missed you, Kay Kay!). We made it a girl date and it was SO FUN! Kurt spent time at home with Liam (and Liam napped most of the time), so I felt good about taking the time to just cherish my little girl. It was great!

Our little Snow White. She debated FOREVER about whether she should wear her Cinderella or Snow White dress. She finally decided on "Oh White." We originally put it on with no shirt underneath because my mom said "Her little arms are so cute" (I think this counsel also came from my grandmother). But Evy kept saying "Shirt, Mommy. Too loose." I will say that the Oh White outfit was a tad risque without a shirt underneath - ha!!

I was so thrilled to be with my angel baby! It was my first outing after getting home and it was MUCH NEEDED!

Evy went through so many little expressions. This was the very start of the show, and she was in awe!

It's Evy's twin!

I believe this was during "Heigh Ho."

Sweetest little fingers!

This was so cute. At certain times, Evy was almost get so happy and giddy that she would grab my neck/hair and just bury her face in my neck. It was so sweet and made me smile!

I ended up having extra tickets and knew that our friends Sarah and Jason and their little girl, Ansley, would love it. We met them in the arena and saw that Ansley was wearing her Snow White dress too! It was so adorable. Ansley and Evy are big buddies, and they were giggly interacting with each other. At intermission Sarah and I attempted pictures, and you know how that always goes. I think Evy's thought process went something like this:

"It's okay, Ans. Just let me handle these photographers. I've got this."

"Okay, last one? Seriously, last one."

"Ansley, are you believing this?"

"Okay, I guess this isn't so bad. Let's pose."

"Girl, do you have a Bun Bun too?! I'm obsessed with mine."

She was eating it all up!

I got Evy one of the souvenir programs and it was the BIGGEST hit. I gave it to her after the show and told her she can always keep it to remember our special time. She keeps it in her crib! :)

It was the perfect time together to love on the new big sister and my sweet little firstborn! A lot of people have asked how she's adjusting and I'll post more about that soon, but she is doing so well. We've put extra effort into loving on her and making things special, and she really loves Liam so much. She is so caring and her favorite thing is to do is to get him up in the mornings and after naps. Or if I bring Liam in to get her (if he wakes up first), she smiles so big that he's there to greet her! It's been fun to watch Evy navigate being a sibling. :)

This time together made me really, really excited for the next time we go to Disney World as a family. What a great trip that will be!

Going Against the Grain - And Orphan Sunday

2011-11-06T22:05:00.001-06:00

Several people have asked me about our decision to do things a little differently than are recommended in the adoption world, so I thought I'd share just a little bit. First of all, I don't want it to seem like we're being snobs, or condescending about adoption experts, etc. We definitely knew that adoption would be different than a biological birth, and we knew we needed to be prepared for that. We went through adoption education classes, and I read numerous blogs, articles, etc. concerning attachment, bonding, and adjusting in the first few days/weeks of being home.

For us, it wasn't so much a blatant decision to make different choices than are recommended; it was more giving ourselves permission to do things however we felt God was leading us. We knew that we couldn't put together a gameplan until we met Liam and started to know his personality. Anyone who says they know exactly what they're going to do once they bring an adopted child home (before meeting/spending time with that child) is living in a different reality. You just can't make those kinds of decisions before you have your child. So we were open to whatever we needed to do.

When we got Liam, we noticed that he quickly showed signs of bonding/attaching to us. I give most of this credit to his incredible foster family, who did a wonderful job preparing him. Not only did they work with him on his photo album of us, but I know they prayed for his heart to be prepared. Those things made a huge, HUGE difference. I attribute the rest of it to Liam's personality. He's a very loving, affectionate child and he responded very early to the way Kurt and I interacted with him. We started to see early that he was trusting us and he was making eye contact with no problem (one of the signs of bonding).

Another element in our process was that my dad came with us to Korea. This set the tone very early, in that my dad was holding Liam within minutes of meeting him. That's just the way Kurt and I are. We aren't bothered in having other people hold our children (within reason, of course). My dad and Liam definitely bonded in Korea, and at times it was a pure logistical issue. When we were going around Seoul, traveling on that 14 hour plane extravaganza, etc., it helped us TREMENDOUSLY for my dad to hold, comfort, and play with Liam. So from the very beginning, Liam was primarily cared for by me, but both Kurt and my dad were major players too.

As I shared before, we co-slept in the hotel bed together in Korea. We knew this was an element of our process, and it was relatively easy to get Liam to sleep with this method. We both laid beside him and sometimes I'd have to sit up and kind of rock him, but we made it work. During the night, he would flail and kick and punch, and we didn't get much quality sleep (which we expected). Again, we watched Liam's cues very closely, and through a series of naps and how he slept on the bassinet in the plane, we observed that he was capable of sleeping by himself, and that he was a relatively sound sleeper.

Once we got home, we made the decision to do as much transition as we could initially. Some people will disagree with this, but our reasoning was that, as far as sleep went, it was better to do one big transition instead of little baby steps. To me, it wouldn't be fair or wise to get him used to multiple things and keep changing it. From the first night, we put him in his crib and worked with him on getting to sleep. He was actually putting himself to sleep in Korea (his foster mother would just be beside him and then he would fall asleep on his own), so he really already had that skill. Honestly, our biggest hurdle was the jet lag, not the crib. We comforted him and our room is literally next door to his, so we were very close to comfort him when needed. Within three nights (and after we added the space heater to his room), he was sleeping through the night. I promise you, the jet lag was the bigger thing to overcome. He has responded wonderfully to his crib. We created a routine for him so he knows nighttime is coming. We all (me, Kurt, and Evy) sing "Jesus Loves Me" to him while I rock him, and then Kurt prays over him. Then we put him in his crib and he usually gives an initial fuss (2 minutes, maybe?) and then falls asleep for the whole night.

Co-sleeping is very highly recommended by the adoption experts for initial attachment and bonding. While I totally understand where that counsel comes from, we just knew it wouldn't be the best choice for us. A few factors: Kurt spends at least one or two nights a week on call at the hospital, and we didn't want Liam to get used to sleeping between both of us when that wouldn't be the norm. But the biggest reason is that Kurt and I have made the decision that our marriage is the highest priority in our home. Our children mean everything to us, but the health of our marriage comes first. Some couples are able to have a family bed/co-sleeping situation and are able to maintain really healthy relationships and that's great for them. Seriously, please don't leave me comments about how mean I'm being concerning co-sleeping, because truly, to each his own! With the choices we've made, we're all getting quality sleep and Liam and Evy are secure in their own beds. We also won't have to create upheaval later when the habit needs to be broken.

We've also welcomed help from our family. Some experts recommend not letting anyone else touch or care for your child for a period of time. AGAIN - some children require this for bonding and attachment, and I am NOT saying that those adoptive parents are making the wrong choices!!! Please understand me. Just like the sleeping thing, we carefully observed Liam and saw how he responded to certain things. The people who have helped with Liam are my parents, Kurt's mom, and my siblings. When I walk back into the room, Liam will smile a big smile and run up to me. He knows that I'm Mommy, and we've kept tabs on that. It's not like I've left him with ten different caregivers. Some counsel that the experts will give is to keep an adopted child's circle very small. Well, considering the size of our families, I do think we've kept his world very small. We've been to some restaurants and he's been held by family members, but no one outside the family. It's worked wonderfully for us, and I'm so thankful that Evy, Liam and I didn't hole up in the house by ourselves. Truly, I would have been in a very dark place. The jet lag was by far the biggest hurdle I had to overcome, and there were mornings when I literally couldn't hold my eyes open and my mom would come and help. It saved my life! Now that I'm over the jet lag (and I got a double stroller yesterday!), I am more independent, but I still welcome the help from our family. Plus, they're creating relationships with Liam, which we place high value on.

I really hope this post didn't come across the wrong way - I just wanted to share some of our reasoning behind our choices. I hope this helps others. Like I said, it wasn't us making arbitrary decisions. We just gave ourselves permission to prayerfully make the decisions that we felt the most peace about!

Also, today is Orphan Sunday and November is Adoption Month! I'll never see these things the same way again. Last year we had just started our process, and this year Liam is home (by the grace of God). It's so amazing. I do want to give you something to think about. Before you INSIST (and I've had people do this to me) to everyone and yourself that you're not called to adopt, ask yourself why you think you're not. You might find that selfish reasons are keeping you from doing what you know God wants you to do, or you might be mistaking fear for God not calling you. A lot of people also feel that as long as they're contributing to orphan care in some way (giving money, praying, etc.), they're fulfilling their duty as Christians. Please understand, I don't think that every single Christian family is called to adopt, but I think WAY, WAY MORE should be adopting. It surprises me how many people feel compelled to tell me that they're not called, but they're happy I was. I've said this before, but I challenge you to ask God if this is something He wants you to do. I try to be tactful and sensitive, but sometimes there's a time to be direct, and I want to challenge you to search your heart about this issue. Yes, contributing money and praying are great, but children need homes. Children in your city, state, country, and around the world need homes. This is God's heart, ladies. This is what He considers true religion (James 1:27). Please hear me - I lack in so many areas and I do not have a "holier than thou" attitude about this. I also am not placing judgment on people who determine that this really isn't for them. But I think that in order to determine if this isn't for your family, you should go through a really deep, lengthy, soul-searching process. Don't turn away from this orphan problem because of fear, or because you simply want to keep your life the way it is. Really search your heart. I'm so profoundly thankful that I did. Pause my music playlist in the right column to hear the video.

Liberty Fans

2011-11-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

When my brother came home to welcome Liam, he brought Evy and Liam attire from Liberty University, where he goes to school! The babies looked SO cute in their little gear and I snapped some pictures to send to Will. The picture of the two of them together cracks me up, because it was before Liam got his haircut!

We love you and miss you, Uncle!

Internet Issues!

2011-11-05T17:43:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of blogging to do, but OF COURSE my internet is being ridiculous lately. Just wanted to let yall know we're fine and nothing is wrong - just dumb technology. I'm hoping to get a few posts done while this lucky streak lasts - ha!