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FIRST…thank you for all you INCREDIBLE families who commented on my last post about adopting first!!! I encourage you to go check out the comments and amazing blogs of these families! Be encouraged as they follow the Lord in adopting first!!! And absolutely…I think our next adoption post needs to be about families who started over;). Love the teenager who responded that they WISH their parents would start over:).
OK…so some catchin’ up at the Young house. ALL of this happened JUST yesterday! First, I have to blog FRANK! Many of my friends and blog readers have just fallen in love with our Frank. AND what’s NOT to love about a little man with a bald head and lots of personality?! So…I need to catch you up:). He has started saying a FEW words. No, we aren’t getting the normal: please, truck, etc. Instead we are getting what we will call “only Frank” words like: iron, I-ey (isaac), and dough-naw (our personal favorite which means: doughnut). Frank is starting to really show so much of his heart as he is playing so well with BOTH the big kids and Isaac. We are so proud of him!!! Here are a few picture of Frank that I snagged yesterday showing that personality that we have all grown to adore…
This boy is ALL Young…but the ONE thing he DOES have of mine–are my eyes…
I heart window pictures…
Laney was kind enough to invite Frank to her tea party (he normally makes a MESS so he isn’t always invited…but he made the invite list and who could resist snagging these…but you CAN see why he might annoy a big sister who takes tea parties VERY seriously…)
I love seeing these 3 finally play together…it won’t be long before Isaaac is big enough to join them…
And as THEY had tea party fun…Isaac Temesgen had a work out…TUMMY TIME!
And one thing I also love about Frank right now–is how he ALREADY looks out for his little brother. He was running back and forth from the tea party BACK to tummy time to make sure his I-EY was ok! PRECIOUS!
I tossed them all in a chair and TRIED to grab a shot of all 4…but of course that is not going to work…but can’t say I didn’t try:)
AND TO COMPLETE YESTERDAY’S EXCITEMENT…Parker FINALLY lost that tooth LAST NIGHT!!! AND I just happened to have my Flip close by and caught the ACTUAL tooth pulling on video!!! Please ignore our crazy squealling over a pulled tooth!
OK…you remember that excitement Parker had?! And all that “COOL!” screaming?! Well…it was COOL…UNTIL he ran to the mirror and saw blood. THEN…it was not so cool!
BUT…nothing a big Sonic slushy wouldn’t cure;). Thanks Laurie for the yummy slushy!
Our FIRST toothless grin at the Young house!
And thankfully Daddy had just gotten home from work to see it!
And that’s all folks! We had a really fun playdate today with the Carley family…SO I can’t wait to share pictures of our fun little ones finally meeting one another in a post this weekend!!! Hope you all have a GREAT weekend! We’re off to “meet-and-greet” Parker and Laney’s teachers!
So cute!!! Love that little Frank! Our little monkey didn’t seem to talk FOREVER…but finally we’re getting hilarious little sayings out of him too….I really should blog those before I forget =) Picture of Isaac and Frank is AWESOME…and I love the feetsies of all four…and I’m super jealous of your house BTW 😉
i LOVE Isaac’s butt…its so big and cute! :0) Hope you dont mind me saying that! also i am in love with the pic you took of all four of them on the chair and then their feet! LOVE it!
Parker…you are Evangeline’s hero! She has watched you pull your tooth over and over.She wants to loose a tooth SO BADLY! Yup…there she is now…trying to wiggle one loose:)
we had so much fun yesterday…look forward to many more morning just like it (minus the big kids).
thanks so much for having us over…and for the donuts 🙂
♥
SleepyMom -August 14, 2010 - 12:37 pm
Oh, there’s nothing like the early talking of a toddler. My 1 yr olds favorite words until recently were trash and bulb (meaning light bulb), and he always said them with such gusto and twang it would crack us up. Months later, he is still obsessed with all things trash related and changing light bulbs (too bad we have so many compact flourescents).
Your kids are too cute – great pics.
One thing I have overheard in the past year from lots of people as they watched our family adopt say is, “We would love to adopt ONE day, BUT we want to have our ‘own’ kids first.” The funny thing about our family is that Richard and I actually started our marriage wanting to adopt first. For us–it just made sense. And for many other couples throughout the world–it DOES make perfect sense. The time and energy of the paper chase…the extra effort to help an older baby or child adjust to a new family, culture and home…for us it has been twice the work as a newborn as a 1 year old doesn’t quite sleep as much as a newborn. But just after 6 months of marriage, we found out we were going to have a baby…which he falls in the 1% as we were trying to wait to “have our own” just yet (that phrase makes me cringe now!). As I rock our 1 year old who has only been home for 6 weeks, it is such an amazing thing…quite a miracle…as our hearts are bound and truly HE IS OUR OWN. Because adopting first was a desire and dream I have had since a teen and although God had different plans for our family, I continue to just be so encouraged by more and more families who are CHOOSING to ADOPT FIRST.
I wanted to introduce you to one of these families who I had the honor to spend a weekend with back in June…meet Jason and Britney Cannon…
Jason and Britney felt the Lord leading them to adopt FIRST–and they actually started out persuing an adoption to Haiti. HOWEVER…they didn’t fit the criteria because they have only been married for a few years. Now that they have a few years of marriage under their belt, they are ready to grow their family–and their first child will be born of their hearts…straight from Ethiopia. While Jason and Britney knew they would have friends and family probably scratching their heads wondering why they wouldn’t have biological children first, Jason wrote this to explain WHY it just made perfect sense for their family:
We have always talked about adopting, but we just assumed it would be after having biological children. We long greatly to have biological children and Good Lord willing that will happen for our family sometime in the not-so-distant future. For now however, that is not exactly what the Lord has placed on our hearts. It is easy to sit and dream of a day when it will be more convenient to reach out to a child in need and provide a loving forever home for that child. It is another thing all together to actually put the rubber to the road and take steps in the direction of adopting a child. We have simply decided, with a little spiritual prodding, that the time for us to adopt is now. For the logical thinkers out there we have compiled a list below of several factors that have also coaxed us in the direction of seeing this process through at this particular time in our lives.
1. Financing – As some of you may already know, international adoptions cost, on average, somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. With both of us having steady full time jobs (Thank God!) and not having other children to provide for currently, we feel that now seems like a better time than ever to pursue an international adoption. We can save, fund raise, and run around like the crazy people we will have to be in order to complete the adoption. If we already had children, it would make these things more difficult… definitely NOT impossible, but just a little tougher with time and finances.
2. Traveling – International adoptions can require the adoptive parents to visit the country on a couple of occasions, once for a court date and again to pick up your child. This will be much easier to do while only thinking about our travel arrangements, whereas if we already had children, we would have to make plans for them as well.
3. The World’s Perspective on Adoption – So often, adoption is seen as a last resort or even a burden when instead it should be seen as an amazing opportunity!! God commands us to love and care for Widows AND Orphans, he calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and he commands all of this only AFTER having done just that for all of those who are in Christ!! We have all been orphans outside the mercy of the Lord God Almighty, but He adopted us through the life and death of his Son Jesus Christ. Christ’s adoption of us cost Him greatly, but the reward far outweighed the sacrifice. We see the adoption of a child for our family having a similar reward. We want the world to see how our love for an adopted child, in some small way, mirrors the love that Christ has for each of us every day of our lives. While we can never love as perfectly as Christ, we sure can give it a shot.
We are so excited that God has placed adoption on our hearts as a way of growing our family; and, although we have a long wait ahead of us before we even get a glimpse of our first child’s face, we can already say that we will NEVER regret taking this journey. Our decision to adopt first has not been easy for everyone in our lives to understand, but God doesn’t call us to live lives that are easy, comfortable, or understandable. We just pray that God can use us and our adoption to glorify Him.
AMAZING! And what amazing love they already have for their soon-to-be child. Sit back…and watch with me as the Lord receives the glory as they follow Him in adopting first at: http://itsnotapassion.blogspot.com While you are there, check out their family’s new fundraiser t-shirt. Consider helping them bring home their first child by buying one!!!
ANOTHER family that I have connected with that is in the midst of waiting are Richard and Brantley. They ALSO feel called to adopt first–and they are adopting domestically and waiting on a referral. You can follow their journey at http://richardandbrantley.blogspot.com
If you know other families called to adopt first…maybe YOU are one of those–please feel free to leave the blog address in the comment section so other readers can be encouraged by their/your journey!!! Maybe you are newly married—and you know you’ve always WANTED to adopt…ONE day; maybe you have struggled with infertility…and you feel God opening Your heart to a different plan through adoption…OR maybe for SOME reason you just haven’t felt ready to try to have children biologically YET…and you have wondered way. OR maybe there are even some of you out there that consider yourself DONE having babies as you have a house full of teenagers!!! (Maybe my NEXT post should introduce you to some families that chose to START OVER as soon as they only had teens or kids in college in the house…and grew their family all over again through adoption!!!) Be encouraged by families like these—who are following the Lord by growing their family FIRST through adoption and being BLESSED as they follow in so many ways.
I can’t wait to sit back, watch and cheer them on! And it’ll be like waiting for our referral all over again as I wait to see pictures of their first child’s faces!!!
Andrea – thank you so much for sharing and for encouraging others! My hubby and I are also on this road of adopting first and couldn’t be more excited! We also thought we’d adopt ‘one day’ but the Lord had different plans for our lives! That’s what I love about God – His ways are higher than our own and are PERFECT!
Love this post Andrea…I also cringe when people say “our own”! We origionally were going to adopt first…but were too young (by 5 years:) to be homestudy approved in our state. So thankful for the 3 bio kiddos the Lord has blessed us with thus far, and so, so thankful for the little one He is leading us to!
My husband and I have been married just a year and a half, and we are thankfully on the waitlist for our adoption from Ethiopia! We agree with the points this couple made- adopting first has many great practical reasons!
Follow along on our journey, yestoadoption.blogspot.com
That’s US!! We came home with our first from Taiwan last Fall and we’re headed to Ethiopia for siblings this time! Maybe one day we’ll really put our efforts into getting pregnant, but for now, the Lord’s calling on our family and the way we should build it is perfectly clear!
We are adopting first! We needed a little nudge by fertility struggles, but now that we are here, I feel so amazingly lucky, I can’t even express it! It is like striking gold! It is like winning the lottery! Adoption is like a direct line to God’s heart, and you won’t regret it! We don’t have our baby/babies yet, but we already know that we are forever changed, and LOVE adoption! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! http://whenwebelong.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for posting this! So beautiful! We are first time adopting parent’s and feel so incredibly blessed to be on this journey. God is teaching and showing us some beautiful things! http://richardandbrantley.blogspot.com
Enjoyed this post! I always knew I wanted to adopt – and like others, “assumed” we would choose to have bio kids first…then felt less and less like going the bio route, and ended up realizing there wasn’t really a good reason NOT to adopt first…so that’s what we’re doing!
Thanks for sharing this story! Brandon and I are also called to adopt FIRST. When people ask us if we had trouble getting pregnant, we just smile and say “Don’t know!” They always look a little perplexed! Just part of our story. Africa is where our children are!
Blessings to others on this journey, whether first, second, or even third choices- you are right where God wants you!
As you know, Andrea, this is the route Aaron and I took even though our plan was to “make” kids first and then adopt. It never felt right to us though. Adopting first, I believe, truly was God’s calling for our family–I’d love to say that we jumped right in, but it honestly took us so long to listen and obey. Even after we started our adoption, God worked on our hearts soooo much! THANK YOU for posting about this; it’s so exciting to see this happening with couples…I feel like I’m hearing it all of the time lately! 🙂 There is no PLAN B is God’s leading. http://www.one27james.blogspot.com
Thanks so much for this post! I wanted to adopt since I was in middle school, and am so thrilled to be able to realize this dream. There are so many ways to create a family, and I hope that soon, our choice of adoption FIRST will not be such a novel thing or a surprise. Feel free to stop by and share our story at: http://curdsandkimchi.blogspot.com
Hi Andrea! I love your blog and I really enjoyed this post because we have decided to be one of those families as well! My husband and I are adopting our first from Ethiopia. It took us a year of trying to get pregnant to realize that God had a better plan for us! Please feel free to check out our new blog!! grafted-branches.blogspot.com
What a great post and how encouraging to read all the comments from young couples choosing adoption FIRST!
Love & Blessings from Hong Kong,
Kim
Carrie -August 12, 2010 - 7:14 pm
What an encouraging post! My husband and I have also chosen adoption as the first way to build our family, and to many of our friends and family it doesn’t make sense. Although Satan has tried to fill my mind with doubts about our less than “normal” method of building our family, I know without a doubt that God placed the desire in both of our hearts. I have not had contact with very many other families who have chose adoption first, so your bog and all of the comments are so exciting to read!
Kimberly -August 12, 2010 - 7:28 pm
We too are adopting FIRST- ah, how nice to hear of other called to the same as us. We believe that God wants us to build a family and our first will be a sweet babe from Ethiopia! We’re so blessed by where God has placed us in life right now with the resources, time, energy and heart to do this.
Tara Neal -August 12, 2010 - 10:53 pm
Oh, you have no idea what this post means to me!! We are adopting first and at 24 years old, we find it hard to find other families that are also doing the same and around the same age. This is so sweet of you to post this, and I can see/read other stories similar to ours! You’re the best!
Jessie -August 13, 2010 - 12:31 am
Thank you for this post! We were called to adopt first and a year after bringing our son home from Vietnam, we felt God calling us to adopt from Ethiopia. Now, we’re waiting to bring our daughter home some time this fall! It is such an encouragement to me to read the stories of other families doing the same.
Lindsay -August 13, 2010 - 2:36 am
Yes, please do your next post on older families starting again by adopting! I have been trying to convince my parents to adopt, or atleast look into it and see what God has planned. Even though I am 19 and my brother 15, I just have always longed for more siblings to fill my house! Thanks for all your wonderful blog posts! God bless your family.
Courtney -August 13, 2010 - 10:16 am
We are adopting first as well! What an encouragement it is to read about all these other couples doing the same. I believe it shows a clear picture to the world the spiritual aspect of adoption. My husband and I have received many strange looks, but we couldn’t be more excited about adopting first!
We are an adopt first family!! We wanted to adopt first before we wanted to try for bio kids. After a few years of infertility, we decided to start the adoption process from Ethiopia. We are waiting for our referral for 2 little ones. Any day!!!
I am so encouraged to see more and more families feeling God’s prompting and following His will for their lives.
My husband and I started dating 9 years ago and one of the first things we talked about was our desire to adopt. We couldn’t pinpoint how and when this would happen, but we knew that’s what we wanted and what God wanted for our family. After the birth of our son, we found out some of our best friends were adopting their first child from Ethiopia. We were so excited to know that we were going to have other families like ours and begin researching more on how to make it happen. A short few months later God just smacked me over the head with the desire to start the journey NOW. Although it took some convincing in the financial area with my husband (fixer-upper house + debt + new baby = not a lot of money)…God changed his heart to see HIS plan for our lives. NEVER have for a MOMENT regretted this decision and are EAGERLY and (not so) patiently waiting to be matched with our Lil Miss.
thisdomesticateddiva.blogspot.com
Jennifer -August 13, 2010 - 2:07 pm
My husband and I are also adopting first. This is our first choice because of God’s plan. It is amazing to look back during our process and see God’s hand opening doors for us and guiding us through this time. He has used this time as we are waiting to grow our faith and love for Him. He is showing us how to be better parents. We are hopeful to be bringing our son home soon. He is a year old and we are longing for him.
After nearly 10 years of marriage, and thinking we would have bio kids first and then adopt, we now know that it was God’s plan all along to enlarge our family through the miracle of adoption. We are one month old now as a family of Four and we are madly in love with OUR kids. http://www.nystrandfamily.blogspot.com
Thanks for bringing this to the forefront. So often, I think our culture views adoption as God’s Plan B and unnatural. However, I believe in the life of a believer, adopted as God’s child, it is a very natural lifestyle and God’s Plan A, just as growing a family through biological children is God’s Plan A. We are so thankful God saw fit to bless us with twins through adoption and we are excited to watch how He continues to grow our family! Blessings as you transition! http://www.jonandamyg.blogspot.com
Well, I wouldn’t say we adopted “first,” as we have no plans to have bio children. 🙂 However, the day we decided to adopt was the most peaceful day of my life, and now I have two beautiful Ethiopian princesses I am so thankful to be able to call my daughters. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
THANKYOU so much for sharing this! I have had so many conversations with people lately about wanting “their own” first (cringe!) and have been able to ask why. I posted this link on my website as you have explained it so well and hope & pray that they will consider it! WE just brought home our son from South Africa and have LOVED every moment with him!! http://www.rileycandra.blogspot.com
Me and my hubby are adopting first too. We went to Uganda last summer and fell in love and couldn’t think of NOT adopting first. We were just matched with a baby last week and are still waiting on a picture of our little guy but we couldn’t be more thrilled!!
That is us!!! (www.aebrunk.blogspot.com) We chose to adopt years ago, and to say YES to the first referral. We were on the path to adopt a sibling group in Ethiopia (dossier almost sent) when our agency called to say 2 1/2 year old twins needed a home in 24 hours (in March). It was God Who led us down the path so we would trust Him and say YES. Like someone else said, if someone asks if we’ve had trouble getting pregnant – we just say, “We don’t know!” 🙂 God does. And He led us to the perfect little ones for us. Round 2 adoption may be another sibling group, or a single child, or back to Ethiopia where our heart is or domestic again, but we want to adopt again! What a privilege.
Ashley -August 20, 2010 - 2:33 pm
I am SO VERY PROUD of my big sister Britney Cannon and her husband Jason Cannon for their incredible relationship with Christ. I long for the kind of faith, dependence and love they have for God. They have opened their hearts to hear His cry for them…they are taking a gigantic leap of faith and saying, “Yes, God, I hear you! I am following Your lead. Take my dreams, my hopes, my fears…take my life Lord, a living sacrifice.” How awesome is that?!? Y’all are my hereos. And I know that with the amazing faith and trust you have….God is going to see you and your baby through everything. I am SO stinkin’ excited to meet my new baby nephew/neice!!! And I promise, I won’t call him Bookie, haha. Besides, that’s Landen’s nickname. lol. LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Don’t forget to buy an adoption tee from them if you can!!!
(turn music off up top before watching – click bottom right play button to watch the slideshow…)
I love that there are 4 sides to the kids table…but they only use one
I love playing with my little man’s hair…here is a new line of fun that I found at Whole Foods…
We have been using hair butter and a few over the counter things—and we were having problems with fuzzies. Here is a “before” picture with just hair butter in from the night before…
And this is what the “Kinky Curly” products do to the little man’s hair (AND it’s all natural!) to chill out the fuzzies…
His curls are TIGHT…so it can be full of tangles and fuzzy if I’m not careful…and I don’t want it to be greasy–so I love this mix…
It does a great job defining curls—this would be PERFECT in girls hair that has looser, longer curls…
Ok…no curls in this next picture…But serioulsy–Who can resist this face?!
And finally…I love good friends…tea parties…and ice cream with sprinkles!
Can you tell we are trying to get the most out of our last days before school starts?! And seriously…even with our craziness finding time to work on ITY’s hair…I mean, Isaac Temesgen and his curls have to be ready to make his debut in carpool;) Happy Wednesday!!!
sweet, sweet, slideshow! and the kinky-curly worked GREAT in his hair! i can tell a huge difference and that’s just in pictures! thanks for trying it out for us!
Love the b-day pics! His hair looks great…I’m sold! We’ve tried a zillion things and there’s still some frizz…plus the chemicals are starting to scare me! Thanks for being our tester/reviewer. 🙂
I have a confession to make. You know me and my honest confessions. I was on my way home from the doctor with Isaac Temesgen (not a great appointment…double ear infections…antibiotics didn’t work…add an ENT to our list of people to see…retested for UTI…more meds) and as I headed to the physcial therapist to pick up a list of exercises for us to work on this week…and I had this thought, “Man, I need a vacation.” That’s when I started feeling sorry for myself. Thinking *I* needed a vacation. Seriously–who do I think I am to think I NEED or deserve this? Just my honest confession. I wish I could say that after having that thought that I realized later that I don’t NEED a vacation–but it is something I struggle with because of my culture and I’m American…and well, I think I need a vacation because I haven’t had one in a year. Woe is me!!!
So…what does your family spend on a normal vacation? I won’t even say what we normally spend on ours. I think I might be embarrassed. We think we need a vacation a year (at least)…yet the rest of the world just struggles for daily necessities…while we plan for luxury. What does it mean to live for the kingdom? What does it mean to not live for the things of this world? Do I really believe and live this stuff? What if God intended our extra to be used for others rather than luxury for ourselves? What if the Lord provided JUST ENOUGH for us–and He wanted us to be changed in the process of helping the poor instead of extra for ourselves? So while the world says God can’t be that good to make these people suffer so—really…He did provide. What if He provided US with plenty in hopes that we would be the vessel to meet their needs? So really–as much as I want to make a way to vacation this year—truly…there is something so much better to do with money that could make that happen. What if instead of vacation…or even just maybe not as nice of a vacation…our families decided to sponsor 1, 2 or even 3 children for a year?
Watch this…and see what is really happening not only in places like Korah—put all over the world. Here is an opportunity for you to help a child out of the dumpster go to school and have 3 meals a day. For just $700 a year—their life can be changed!
Why is letting go of the things of this world so hard to do? Oh Lord, please change my heart and help me be more like You. Help us love as you love…sacrifice our pleasure for the sake of life for others…and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Vacation will not change my children or their hearts…but sitting down with them to talk about things like this…I really think will.
Will you consider sponsoring a child from Korah—with your family, with your Sunday School, with your Bible study, with a group of friends? Will you consider making a difference and making a sacrifice…and being a vessel for change and life for a little one? I pray that I can be obedient and follow the Lord however He calls me. As much as I hate to feel the struggle between what my heart wants to do and what I know is right—I like it too…it reminds me that God isn’t finished with me yet, that I have a long way to go and if He can use and change me–really, He can change and use anyone.
Promise the rest of the birthday pics from Isaac’s party are coming…I saw this—and just thought it was more important:).
Thanks Andrea! I have the sponsorship requirements for Project 61 if anyone is interested. Korah is one my heart and I can’t wait to go and visit via P61 staff.
Sarah -August 10, 2010 - 4:05 pm
We have been thinking about this exact topic so much!!! Also wanted to share a link to the pics of where ‘our’ kids are going to be going to school in Shashamane http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1114560&id=1626696378#!/album.php?aid=189608&id=653659334&ref=mf I also heard that the school in Shashamane is ALMOST full and they are going to have to look for another school to send the kids too – which means almost 200 kids have been sponsored!!! Praise the Lord!!!
SleepyMom -August 10, 2010 - 4:56 pm
I stumbled upon Project 61 a few weeks ago and couldn’t help but immediately sign up to sponsor a child. Funnily enough I’d been looking for a way to help an orphan and was mentally thinking about giving $350 for the year, but when I saw what amazing things were happening in these children’s lives spending twice that much just seemed right. Giving away more than I planned opened the flood gates. I found myself a week later donating to a different organization that feeds and educates the poor and orphans. Instead of feeling like I’ve sacrificed, I just feel like I actually did something worthwhile with my money.
Thanks for sharing this awesome organization with all your blog reader.
We sponsored a child through P61 a couple of weeks ago also!!! Woohoo! I feel so stinkin’ lucky that I get to be a part of this. It is AMAZING! I wrote about it on my blog over here. http://whenwebelong.blogspot.com/2010/08/lucky-enough-to-get-messed-up.html
So often we can give so much more than we think we can. Just jump in! 🙂
This is such a touching video… for whatever reason it hits home to me a bit more than others. The thought of children eating out of a trash dump is hard for me to comprehend. Thank you for sharing this with us. What a wonderful organization.
I took about 300 pictures during the party…which I think I can narrow it down to half that many for a slideshow of fun–but I thought these told a fun story and gave another sneak peak into Isaac’s FIRST birthday so I just have to share!
The yummy cake (made by the Cake Shoppe)…Isaac’s invitation had a light blue elephant on the front–so a matching cake with polka dots for the big day…
Now…THIS my friends is NEW! Frank is feeling the love and is starting to not only LIKE his baby brother—but LOVE him too! Oh…stop my beating heart…this just makes my heart smile…
Not only that–but when Isaac Temesgen was in Papa’s lap (yes, venturing out of the cocoon a bit and letting family hold him!) he started to get a little fussy. SO…what does big brother Frank do? Oh my…this is just too much!
Seeing Isaac T. smile at his cousins (okay…he is smiling at Jack Denton…which passes as a cousin at our house!) just melted my heart too as they sang…he just fits here—and I love seeing him so happy…
The kids all just LOVE Isaac Temesgen. I mean, he has celebrity status here amoung them;). And then–as if he isn’t already loved…he goes off and doesn’t want to eat his smash cake! SO…what do the cousins do??? They show him how it’s done of course!
And if you wanna talk celebrity status at our house–as if Isaac (AKA: Ike, ITY, T-dog, Tommy) is not enough…in walks a long-standing celebrity in our home–Nisia’s oldest son–Mr. D. Frank drops everything when it comes to Big Shot…
Wait a minute. Sunglasses in the house? Didn’t know that was cool? Well, you gotta take lessons from Big Shot…and well–every boy at our house follows Big Shot…
And that’s the way we roll at our house…
Big Shot thinks we have lost our mind. And he really doesn’t approve of our craziness…or like our picture taking…
What I love about these kids…is that we, adults, can act like the biggest nerds–and they love us anyway…I think;).
And then…it was time to get crazy and teach ITY how to open presents! Aunt April (aka Isaac’s travel buddy) helped him open the first few…(Have I ever told you that my sister April is JUST 14 months older than me!? How fun is that?! AND she lives just 15 minutes from me!!!)
He loved the floor mirror…and couldn’t wait to get it out of the box to play with it…
Lots of new things to help with tummy time and floor exercises…And his first silver cup and rattle with his birthdate and initials engraved (thank you friends at Charter Energy;).
And then Frank had to interupt the gift time for a rolling game. It was SO cute! He would roll right up to Isaac and Isaac would belly laugh at Frank…they did this OVER and OVER and OVER…
And last but not least–Isaac Temesgen and Aunt Nisia’s littlest one got to bond together too…Sweet R and Isaac together…I think she has a fan!
And Laney with her godmother–Aunt Nisia!
Ok…so there’s only like 275 more pictures;). I’ll toss ’em in a slideshow and share them tomorrow! Please say a prayer for our ITY tomorrow. We head back to the doctor to talk about his kidneys and set up an appointment to talk about next steps. Pray if he does have kidney reflux that it heals on it’s own and quickly. This is our LAST week of summer…so I’m trying my best to make each day REALLY fun for the older two and gobble up as much time as I can with them. The older ones will be going to a half day preK and K at a Christian school nearby–and although it is halfday–I will miss them to pieces. (Sure wish I could convince my hubby to let me homeschool…BUT I know this is best this year as we go through physical therapy, OT and feeding therapy.) Hope you all have a great week!!!
LOVE these birthday pics!! And I am so glad you got a pic of Jett! Haven’t seen her in years…she looks great!! And you and your sis look so much alike! How fun to have a sister so close in age…and proximity! 🙂
Our 10 month old baby girl has kindey reflux, she just got diagnosed last month with it after going through some tests. As of now the doctor wants her to be on meds for a year and than they will retest her again. The best of luck with your little man, I hope that you get good news!!!
oh!! i would LOVE for you to homeschool…I can’t imagine all the great ideas you would come up with!! =) we are on day #2 of homeschooling and it is going really well. next year i hope to be adding a new student to the class;)
These pictures are adorable. Funny story…I had Caleb with me at our school’s new families pool party the other day and Harris and April’s kids were there too. The cute thing was that April’s littlest looked at Caleb and called him Isaac. 🙂
way to go Parker!!!! i must admit, i hated losing teeth… i liked the tooth fairy, but did NOT like to pull out a tooth!
So cute!!! Love that little Frank! Our little monkey didn’t seem to talk FOREVER…but finally we’re getting hilarious little sayings out of him too….I really should blog those before I forget =) Picture of Isaac and Frank is AWESOME…and I love the feetsies of all four…and I’m super jealous of your house BTW 😉
i LOVE Isaac’s butt…its so big and cute! :0) Hope you dont mind me saying that! also i am in love with the pic you took of all four of them on the chair and then their feet! LOVE it!
Adorable photos!
Parker…you are Evangeline’s hero! She has watched you pull your tooth over and over.She wants to loose a tooth SO BADLY! Yup…there she is now…trying to wiggle one loose:)
Frank is looking so much like Parker to me in these pictures! So sweet!
Ha! That is the SAME tooth that my Cheru just lost yesterday! It was his first tooth, too!
Precious photos and priceless updates on your adorable family!
we had so much fun yesterday…look forward to many more morning just like it (minus the big kids).
thanks so much for having us over…and for the donuts 🙂
♥
Oh, there’s nothing like the early talking of a toddler. My 1 yr olds favorite words until recently were trash and bulb (meaning light bulb), and he always said them with such gusto and twang it would crack us up. Months later, he is still obsessed with all things trash related and changing light bulbs (too bad we have so many compact flourescents).
Your kids are too cute – great pics.
Love all the pics and updates 🙂
Blessings,
Amy