wiggle worm

well, it's official, noah is off! he is crawling all over the place and can get from A to B (i.e from his room to the dog food bowl). he isn't crawling yet on his knees and he looks more like a little worm. but he's the cutest little inch worm that i have ever seen. and so it begins. loving every second. we are blessed to have this little ball of energy with us. he makes every day special.

best buddies!

then . . .

now . . .




the more time that passes, the more suki LOVES her noah. she follows him wherever he goes and always has to be the first one to give him kisses. noah now grabs hair (and it hurts, real bad) and pulls it until you unlock the death grip. who knew a baby could be that strong. well suki is long haired (plus a full on beard) so that does not come to her advantage around noah. but she will let him pull and poke at her only to attack him with more kisses.

and the cats, well, the cats. that's all i really have to say. they are 11 (sadye) and 9?? (seymour- rescue cat) so they don't get around. much.at.all. sometimes when i leave for work, sadye is on the back of the couch and when noah and i get home around 5:00, she is still there. but they do love them some noah and they both will let him literally roll over them. and grab handfuls of hair which mom isn't too thrilled about. hey, he's not allergic to cats which is good. i was deathly allergic to cats when i was young. no fun.

p.s.- sadye not that we don't love you but it's late and i searched for a while to find you in pictures...will post some of you later =o)

my little firecracker

noah enjoyed his first 4th of july. we went over to a friends house for a bbq and swimming. noah loves the water so that is where we spent most of the evening. i took a few pictures of him before the events began and as you can tell, he was not thrilled to be outside in this blasting summer heat! he was mesmerized by the wind chime. i was happy to try out my recent graduation present which was a nice new camera (which i have yet to figure it out). i have a good subject to snap away. i think he is finally gotten over the camera in his face. almost.every.day!

he also got to experience fireworks from our driveway from a nearby park where they shot them off. i thought he would be scared of the loud popping, but he loved watching all of the fireworks. he is definitely my favorite little firecracker :)

drumming with daddy

noah loves to go out when his daddy is practicing for his night job of being a drummer. okay, just kidding. but noah does love to be out there to listen to him jam out.

here's some pictures from the last few months... one at 2 months, 3 months and 6 months.

happy father's day!

june 20th was a very special day for us. we got to celebrate our first official father's day together. jim has been waiting for years to become a dad and we are so thankful that God placed noah in our arms to be his mom and dad. noah decided it would be a good idea for his mommy to buy him a nice leather recliner so they can rock in it every night. And daddy thought it was the best idea ever so noah, you did a pretty good job :)

noah LOVES his daddy with all of his heart. he waits for him to get home and is so excited to see him. I love watching his reaction when I tell him “daddy is coming”. He looks down the hall and starts smiling and laughing when he sees him. when noah just looks at him, he always bursts out laughing at him. For no particular reason.

He knows when I say “da-da”. It’s only a matter of time that he will learn to say it. he is babbling like crazy and loves to say “aaaaahh” I think it is the most perfect thing I have ever heard. His sweet little voice melts our hearts.

jim, you are everything i knew you would be and more... you light up when you are around our son and he loves his daddy with all of his heart. We are so lucky and blessed to have noah as our son, but more importantly, noah is blessed to have YOU as HIS daddy.

we LOVE you... mommy and noah (and the dog plus 2 cats)

saaaay what???!

On Friday, June 4th the three of us were just goofing around playing when out of the blue, we heard the sweetest, most beautiful thing we have ever heard. Out of no where, noah looked up at me and said “ma-ma”. We both got really excited, and of course, as I ran off like crazy for the video camera, he got distracted and had no interest of repeating his first word. Have I heard it since? No. but it doesn’t matter… I know what he said :)

our little water bug

noah had his first adventure at a pool over memorial day weekend. we weren’t sure what to expect but he absolutely loved it! the little guy loves to kick frantically in the air so he had so much more fun in the water where he could make splashes. he was so adorable in his shark swim trunks and camo hat kicking back and floating along without a care in the world.

 

he loved to be lifted up above the water . .

family pic :)

 

picking up his first lady..

swimming tires a boy out!

noah's dedication

The word ‘dedication’ in Hebrew means,

“to be holy, to set apart to consecrate.”

In Greek it means,

“to set apart, to make new.”

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." - I Samuel 1:27-28

On May 30, 2010 we officially dedicated our sweet Noah to the Lord. It meant so much to make this dedication because God has been with us in every moment leading up to when Noah was placed into our arms as well as with us during the difficult path we were chosen to go down.

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” - Proverbs 22:6

We were so excited and happy to celebrate this day. We promise to put God at the center of our home and we will invest time, devotion and prayer to help him develop a relationship with God. The three of us will walk with Christ together. I pray that we can be a good example to him to be godly parents. God has chosen us to be Noah’s mom and dad and for that I am truly thankful. I can’t wait for the day when we can teach him about how wonderful and fulfilling God is. I can only imagine the man that he can become with God’s love.

"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." - Luke 2:40

I want to show him the power of God’s unfailing love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness . . . the list goes on and on. We are so grateful for our incredible blessing given to us. God is faithful. God is good. God is with us no matter what. He always has a plan for us and we are lucky enough to be along to watch Noah grow in faith.

It is an honor to have been blessed with the gift of adoption and our incredible story of the power of God in difficult circumstances. God has given us the best five months of our lives.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalms 139:14

GLORY..
weight, honor, esteem
be renowed...to show oneself great or mighty

BELIEVE..
to be firm, to be enduring, to TRUST



our difficulties grow MIRACLES.



The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. --Psalm 126:3

Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. --Psalm 113:2-3

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his miracles. Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice! Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching. Think of the wonderful works he has done, the miracles, and the judgments he handed down. -- 1 Chronicles 16:8-12

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. --1 Corinthians 2:9

He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. --Isaiah 33:6

Come and see what our GOD has done, what awesome MIRACLES he performs for people.
-–Psalm 66:5

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. --Deuteronomy 31:8

So when all these things begin to happen stand and look up, for your Salvation is near. --Luke 21:28


The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
--Zephaniah 3:17

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
--Psalm 84:11

Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. --Matthew 11:28

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the victor's crown, the life God has promised to those who love him. --James 1:12


For with GOD, all things are possible.

splash

we had our end of the year community group party at our house.. it came at the perfect time for celebration ;)   my friend managed to capture this picture..

m i r a c l e

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his miracles. Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice! Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching. Think of the wonderful works he has done, the miracles, and the judgments he handed down -- 1 Chronicles 16:8-12

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." --1 Corinthians 2:9


Come and see what our GOD has done, what awesome MIRACLES he performs for people Psalm 66:5
_______________________________________________________________


Without GOD this decision would not have been made possible. We give God all of the glory.

my thoughts...

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. -- Philippians 4:13


As most all of you know, we have been in a horrible storm in a fight for noah. For our son who we wouldn’t trade all the money in the world for. Nothing compares. Words/emotions can’t explain how we have felt these past few months…. Despair, depression, anger, sadness, hopeful, patient, worried, anxious.. the list can go on for miles. I haven’t been open about it on this forum (most of you know all of the details) but I wanted to share our story, hoping that my testimony can give you others some hope and encouragement.


God knew about this situation before we were ever born. He chose me, Jim, and placed Noah with us. He handpicked us to go through this. He has been working on my heart and allowed me to grow throughout the past few years. He has placed us in a wonderful place to be with family, friends, and an incredible support group at our amazing church. These people have been with us every step of the way, crying with us, listening to us, getting angry with us, sending flowers, cards, notes of encouragement, and even came to pray over our home and our little family. It means the world to us. We have had hundreds of people praying for us… many of those people of which we have never met. Friends would tell friends who would tell more friends, churches, etc. Power of Prayer is remarkable. That is truly astonishing and we can’t even begin to thank you enough. God has placed us in this exact spot of where we needed to be. Without these people, we would be lost. Without a doubt.


I can not control the situation. Jim can’t control it, our lawyer’s can’t. I just have to sit back (which was very hard to do at first because what is at stake) and let God drive. Letting go seems like such a simple thing to do. But it is by far, the hardest thing for me to do. In the past, I was a major control freak. I chose to put God on the back burner and I would be the one making all of the decisions without seeking God first. God has tested me throughout the years on control, trust, and my belief in general. I was really stubborn and it had to be on “my timeline”. If it didn’t happen, I got mad and angry and thought God had forsaken me. Man, was I ever wrong.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. - Hebrews 4:16

We both begged and pleaded to God to make our situation go away. I got mad, angry, upset, but nothing seemed to happen. I remember one day driving home and I had to pull over because I couldn’t even see the road ahead. There I pleaded with God to make it go away, to make things easy. But nothing happened…we got not so good news from our lawyers later that week. I couldn’t control it…but God could. This was the hardest trial we have ever faced. It is scary, it is tough, it is overwhelming, it seems like it will never end, but then I sit back and hear God saying.. Trust in me. I have always heard that there are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. And boy, we have learned and continue to learn in this storm.
I usually want to take the “easy way” in many things because either I don’t want to spend more time than I should, am lazy, whatever it may be. But God takes us down paths that might not make sense to us. But He knows how to make all things work together for our good. But I am so thankful that God led me down the path that was beyond the “hard way”… words can’t even explain the emotions and pain we have experienced. This has made me trust in God with all my heart and all of my soul. I thought I trusted him before but nothing compares to trusting him when my child is at stake. I had to mediate on His word, hoping, believing, and trusted that He would see us through. This has made me a better Christian, a better person, better wife, better mother, and a better friend. Now when I read scriptures, God’s words ABIDE in me and I am not simply just reading them. I have never felt such PEACE like I do today. The whole world is spinning and the enemy tells me things I do not want to hear. But I have peace. That is the best feeling.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will no set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. -Isaiah 43: 2-3


If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. --John 15:7

The world is not perfect. there is pain. if everything is good, that is when it is so easy to be with God. but where is the praise? He has called ME to suffer for his glory and I will take it for I know that He is with me. and loves me. and our family. it hurts me, i would not have chosen this personally. but I am GLAD. I watched an intense video the other day on You Tube by John Piper he made a few comments that really stuck with me…. Suffering is inevitable as a Christian. You should not only believe, but you also should suffer. We suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him. We are to share in suffering for the gospel of the power of God. Don't get me wrong... it has not been easy, it has not been fun... but today, I do rejoice in my sufferings for I am now strong. I have always found comfort in the verse in 2 Corinthians but now I totally understand..


Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -- 2 Corinthians 12

 His GLORY exceeds anything we could ever comprehend. I am currently reading Breaking Free and I love this… God’s glory is the way He makes Himself known or shows Himself mighty. God’s glory is how He shows who he is. I made the decision to glorify God not only in the best times, but also in the difficult days, in the midst of the pain in the storm.


Now I rejoice.
Now I rejoice.

 And hopefully my personal suffering can help you as you read this. Life will be painful. You make the choice of which way you will go. I choose to rejoice. I choose to trust God. I choose to believe. I choose to have faith.


God is most seen as powerful when everything goes wrong…. and He is enough and He sustains us. Through the deepest pain, I know that He is Enough.

 I just LOVE the words of this song….. here’s some of my favorite verses…


LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside

Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time

Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don't

Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint -- Isaiah 40:31



Never, never, ever give up ~Winston Churchill

our little family photo shoot..

We had our pictures by Jessica Sims who is raising money for her journey across the world (www.chasethelightwithme.com) taken in downtown grapevine last weekend. They turned out wonderful!   here are a few of my favorites….  

we love you so incredibly much!

an extra special day

and now these three things remain:

FAITH



HOPE


and LOVE

but the greatest of these is LOVE

~1 Corinthians 13:13

for mother's day.. most people give their moms a gift. fact is, i already have my gift. i didn't want or need anything. the best gift i have ever and will ever receive is noah. i have been hopefully waiting for years to encounter my first mothers day. this was such a special day for me. i finally got to stand up in church with my son in my arms as the church recognized all the mom out there. and i cried tears of delight. it was more than i could have ever wanted. we prayed for noah for so many years and it feels so good to be his mommy. i am thankful to God for molding me before He gave me the bestest gift I could have ever imagined. thank you God for bringing our incredible son to us. God's plan for our family is better than i could have ever hoped or asked for.

His LOVE never fails.

happy mothers day... to my mommy :)

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

mom, you are everything to me and i couldn't imagine anything better. you are there with me in good times and are with me every step of the way in the difficult times. when it seems like too much, you lift me up and encourage me every step of the way. you are such an incredible person and a true friend. i hope i can be as good of a mom to noah as you are to me. i love you. happy mothers day.

“We’re going to the zoo!” Noah’s First Big Adventure… by Jim

Last Friday we wanted to do something fun as a family and thought it was a great day for the zoo. It was the perfect day and was actually a little cool. It was exciting to go with Noah because we have been going for years and it is just not the same. Last time we went, we ran into good friends of ours with their little 1 year old at the petting zoo. I was right behind her in line waiting my turn to pet the animals.

When we were walking in, Jenna would surprise him by popping her head in the stroller and say, “we’re going to the zoo!” Noah would squeal and giggle in delight each time she did it which I lost count of. He clung onto his monkey we got him and was absolutely fascinated by him. We named him jelly. Why you ask, well, in addition to us being a little goofy, the tag said “jellycat” so we thought that would be cute.

The zoo itself was a blast; we got there around noon and stayed until 3:00. We toured all of the exhibits, including the new Museum of Living Art, which is a really cool indoor herpatarium. We’ve been to a number across the country, including San Diego, and the Fort Worth is definitely right up there with the best. Noah did great. He alternated between naps in his stroller and being carried around by mommy or daddy to see the exhibits. There were a bunch of times when we would go up to an exhibit and he would follow the animals around with his head. Inside the reptile house, they had a tank with turtles; the turtles would swim right up to the glass and follow your hand around if you put it close. He got really excited when the turtles would swim up close to him. He’d smile, follow them with his eyes, kick his feet and coo. Overall it was a really great day; the first of many we will have as a family.