P.H.R.F.T.L.

Yes, yes, I know. I missed last week's Pretty, Happy, Real, Funny, Thankful and Love installment. Oh well......I am not about to blog under pressure and so I skipped a week. This one will make up for it :o)

Pretty:
Our Christmas tree!! I did make the mistake of asking Keziah what colour lights she would like on the tree - colourful or white. Duh. Of course she wanted the colourful ones whereas I much prefer white ones. Brings back memories as a kid.....as a family we often went to Ottawa or Quebec during the Christmas break. On the way back home, which was once New Year's Day was over, my siblings and I used to count how many people still had their outdoor lights lit up. We also all came to the conclusion that everyone who had white lights were boring. The colourful ones were so much better. Funny how things change as now I think that the white lights are beautiful and the colourful ones are so tacky! Oh well. I should have known better than to ask a 4 year old girl, who likes anything glitzy :o)

Happy:
Living life through my children's eyes makes me happy. Seeing them carefree and secure makes my mother's heart a happy one. I love watching them just be kids, living up and loving childhood, enjoying all that comes with it, which is mostly imaginary play. Lately, Keziah is into giving "shows". She is always the dancer and Lincoln is always the "show-er-off-er" (label given by her :o).

And this time, Lincoln was quite happy to be in the audience. He was not alone :o)

Real:
Last Saturday we headed out and met up with some real animals! Some real sheep and camels!! Lincoln wasn't too sure about these real things that moved and made noises.

However, Keziah was absolutely thrilled to ride a real-live pony!!! (We were real proud of her as usually something like this scares the pants off of her. I guess she figured it was too cold to lose her pants....;)

Funny:
My sister and I got together this past week so the kids could play and we could chat. While they were playing, we thought we could squeeze in a workout. We put the video on and before we knew it, we had an audience sitting behind us, all lined up, watching us as we sweated and grunted our way through the exercises. Nothing like making you feel self-conscious with a peanut gallery who don't have a problem at all with stating the obvious. "Mom, you are doing it wrong." "Why did you stop? She didn't" ('she' being good ol' Jillian); "You're all red!".

They must have thought it looked like fun, because it didn't take them long to join in!

Thankful:
We are very thankful that we have finally dealt with the last bit of leaking in the basement (and if you ask Keziah why it was wet downstairs, don't believe her answer, which is it was all mice pee. I have no idea where she came up with that, but I overheard her telling that to someone. Eeeeewwww!!) Anyway, the work is now done and hopefully we can finish off our basement in the near future!

I was thankful the kids were being entertained by the workers.......

....and even didn't mind the dust that came up stairs! It just felt good to finally have our whole basement sealed up!

Love:
Before I vacuumed up all the dust (and vacuumed up, washed the floor, vacuumed up and washed it again), I couldn't help wanting to feel like I was 17 again. Yes, I am so corny. But I am in love.....with this man that has been in my life for over 18 years. So blessed.

Our Days

Yay! The sun came out today!! It sure has felt like it's been awhile since we've seen the sun. We've had a lot of grey damp days which has kept us inside for the most part.

Life has slowed down considerably now that Keziah has her bubbles. Every week we are and will be travelling back and forth to have her bubbles filled, but they cannot fill them if she gets sick. That means we are limiting her social schedule. No more gym for awhile (she always joined a program while I worked out), no more birthday parties etc. We do still go out and about, but for the most part we are enjoying our time at home. I am an extrovert and so there are some days that I can find difficult, trying hard not to feel cooped up. But this too shall pass. I keep reminding myself to enjoy each day at home, the freedom of doing whatever and whenever, because in less than a year, I will be tied up with a schedule that is out of my control (when Keziah starts school).

The kids are enjoying themselves at home, playing together. Can you find Keziah?! It is her new hiding spot :o):

When it is oh so quiet in the family room, I know now not to assume they are doing things they shouldn't, but to take my camera and snap a few pictures. They LOVE looking at books.

Keziah is slowly easing out of her naps. What a difference a few months makes. Last time she went without naps was back in August. And every day without a nap meant a 4:30 pm melt-down. Now she can go a few days without a nap - and without a melt-down! While she may not nap so much anymore, we stick to the whole "quiet" idea. This may mean resting on the couch with mom....

.....or doing a craft (so much easier to do when Lincoln is sleeping).

And when we aren't playing, crafting or reading, there is always the option to talk on the phone :o)

(don't ask about the socks. They are very rarely on her feet. I am just glad to know they aren't on the floor for once, which is usually under the kitchen table after kicking them off even before breakfast is over.)

We have set up our Christmas tree, slowly making the house somewhat festive. Nathan and I never grew up with a Christmas tree (in fact, they were frowned upon), and so that leaves me wanting to do some research on the history of the Christmas tree. If I find out anything interesting, I'll share it with you.

And So It Starts....

This past Saturday, we were able to get together with Nathan's side of the family for a gift exchange and supper. At least this year there was no ice/snow storm, and so we were able to enjoy the festivities at a decent hour (last year it took us 3 hours to drive a 35 minute drive, arriving past 9:00 pm).

Keziah and Lincoln (and us) were spoiled rotten again, with things like books, puzzles, games, trucks, cars, and most importantly, candy.

Unfortunately in the mad dash to get there on time (still was late....), I forgot the diaper bag at home. While the diapers were definitely needed, it was the camera that I threw in the diaper bag that was missed the most. And so the following pictures were taken from a phone. This means less than stellar quality. Oh well.

The best part of these evenings though is not the material gifts we've received, but time and memories made with our families. With lots of cousins (14 all together on the Helder side, with one more on the way in May, D.V.), as well as grandparents, there is always fun happening. We all more or less get along (or have learned to bite our tongues - some of us with bigger teethmarks on our tongues than others), and so do the kids. This is a blessing in itself! My brother in law is a paramedic and he has stated before that the number of domestic calls escalate during holiday time. While I can see why this can happen, it still is a sad reality. Thankfully though, so far when we've gotten together with Nathan's family, we haven't had to call the police or paramedics. Yet. :o)

Here is Kez with 4 out of the 6 girl cousins. At one time we had something like 10 kids under the age of 3. You can imagine how those years went (Kidding....while it felt like 10 under 3, I think it was around 6 under 3.). Now, the older ones clearly outnumber the littlest ones, and so it is really neat to watch them get excited for each other as they open gifts.

Later in the evening, a movie was put on. Here is Kez with 4 out of 7 boys. 3 minutes after the movie had started, Keziah was the only one left to watch while the boys went back to terrorizing a stuffed ladybug downstairs (hence the swords, bandanas and cowboy hats in the picture).

And so, the season of giving has started. And so has the overeating. Sigh. Good thing Jillian Michaels and I are on a first name basis.

P.H.R.T.F.L

Boy, when you do something every week, it really emphasizes how quick a week goes by! I am glad then to take time to capture some moments for P.H.R.T.F.L. before I forget how this week went.

Pretty:
Well, it came early (too early for my liking), but good thing it was pretty. It was even prettier in the morning, but by the time I was able to get out to snap some pictures, most of it had fallen off the trees. We shall see if I still think this is pretty in March.....

Happy:
The above snowfall definitely made some little people happy!! Well, as long as he never fell down. 'Cause he learned real quick that once he was down, he was down for good until someone rescued him and helped him to stand back up. It's what happens when you are bundled from head to toe and are only 2 feet tall!

Lincoln was also very happy that daddy bought some equipment for the business. That means little gifts from the company, like a truck, trailer and bobcat......kid-size!! Lincoln has yet to let these go out of sight since he's received them. No wonder. He's almost 2 and it's very first truck and trailer! Exciting times for a boy!!

Real:
I wasn't too sure whether to put the following pictures under "funny", but then I was afraid of what you would think of me (I still think these pictures are hilarious....). We are going on 4 years of the fear of Santa being very real for this girl. Here I thought it was safe to take her out because all the scary Halloween costumes were put away. But nope, not yet. Gotta wait another month and then this scary red and white guy will be gone again. And to think, we were just walking by the guy. Don't worry, I've never tried to make her sit with him.

Speaking of Funny, did you hear the news? Yup, we will be welcoming a new little one any time soon here in our home! Can't say you've never seen a pregnant Polly Pocket now :o)

Did you know that sucking up Jello with a straw is fun?! Who needs the jello to be fully set when you have straws handy!

Love/Favourite:
This is my favourite picture of the week. That's how these guys travel. Holding hands.

I hope you are having a great week so far!! Busy weekend ahead for us, but it'll be lots of fun as we get to spend time with friends tonight and family tomorrow. And then there's Sunday, a much needed day for my spiritual well-being. May you have a blessed weekend.

What Adoption Has Taught Us - Part 4

.....about our children.

What adoption has taught us in regards to our children is this:

They may not have an ounce of genetic traits from us, but they do have something of ours, and that is our hearts! And they captured our hearts from the moment we met them, and the stinkers haven't let go! If anything, they keep squeezing harder and harder :o)

Again, some honesty. Many years ago, when we briefly talked about whether we should adopt or not, the fear of not knowing whether we could love someone else's child was a huge hurdle for us. We wrestled with the question of would we ever see that child as our daughter/son. We were concerned that we would never be able to look past their adoption, and always see that first when looking at our children. And if we couldn't have our "own" children, then adopting was not something we wanted.

Praise God for His ways!!! And that in the end, it was His plans that He made known to us!

While those fears are definitely real and understandable, we learned very quickly many years later, that we wanted to parent. It became apparent that we had a desire to parent, which completely overtook our desire to pass down our genes. And so we started the journey of adoption.

That question though of whether we would really see them as ours was always in the back of our minds, that is, until we held each of them. And we have never asked that question again.

Instead, we proudly shout: YES, this is OUR daughter!!!!!

And this is OUR son!!!!

So our children taught us many things and will continue to teach us for as long as the Lord allows this relationship to grow. But one of the biggest things they taught us has been nicely summed up in this poem:

And that is the truth. And the beauty of it all is it doesn't stop there. The two of our children come from very different genes, backgrounds and circumstances. But we have been blessed with the gift of watching how that doesn't matter to them one iota. For these two blessings absolutely love each other. Yes, they have their moments, but they are few and far between. These two are not only siblings through adoption, they are playmates and best friends. We pray that God will continue to bless this relationship.

And that is the end of our 4 part series of what adoption has taught us. I hope you enjoyed it. Do feel free to email me if you ever have any questions at all in regards to adoption. I will do my best to answer them.

If you are at a fork in the road of life as to whether to pursue adoption or not (whether you have biological children already or not), may you be given much strength and wisdom to seek His will. Be ready for His ways, as you never know where He may lead you.

If you are on the road of adoption, hold fast to Him and know that He has a plan, which can be so comforting in all the ups and downs. And I pray that your desire to have a (another) child may be God's will for you and your family.

And if you are just reading for interest sake or that you know of someone close to you that is journeying down this road, pray for them. Pray also that you may be a shoulder to cry on, as well as someone to keep them looking to God for their help.

P.H.R.T.L.F.

Welcome to the third week of Pretty, Happy, Real, Thankful, Funny and Love. You'll notice most of them have the same theme, Keziah's surgery, as that is what took up most of our week.

Pretty:

The other week, we woke up to one of the most gorgeous sunrises we've seen in awhile. I just loved the contrast between the dark and looming sky behind the brightly lit up coloured trees. What a beautiful way to wake up, to realize that yet again, the sun rises, each and every day, thanks to our Creator.

Happy
While the bed at the hospital is pretty good, I sure was happy that I only had to sleep here one night:

Thankful:
We are so thankful to all those involved this past week in regards to Keziah's surgery. We are thankful that we live close to a hospital that is renown for its work. We praise God for the team that cares for Keziah and all her needs.

Real:
While Tylenol and Advil were helpful to ease Keziah's pain this week, it became abundantly clear that the best medicine of all was having her family back altogether, especially her brother. The first picture is the day after her surgery, the second picture is the next day. All smiles when around Lincoln. And as you can see by Lincoln's lovingly gaze at his sister, the feeling is quite mutual :o)

Funny:
We thought it was quite funny that Keziah wanted broccoli for supper, a few hours after her surgery. What a funny duck!

Keziah came home from the hospital with this large doll that was given to her. Lincoln was not too thrilled, running away from it. Is it mean that we think this is funny?!

Keziah really dislikes the taste and smell of her medicine. Why can't they make medicine with a broccoli flavour?! It'd be no problem then to get it in her!!

Still with the "funny" theme, Lincoln is learning to close his eyes during prayer. It sure is hard for us to keep a straight face when he is looking like this!

And lastly, Love:
I love it that this little boy wouldn't let me go after being away from me for a few days. He also loved all the hugs from his sister.