Bad dreams turned good.

I know most parents may dread the 3am visit from the 5-year-old who has had a bad dream.  I mean, who doesn't want to be woken abruptly by a scared kid who most likely wants you to give up valuable real estate in your bed, right??

I, on the other hand, have a different view on the whole situation.

For the first time in 3 years and 5 months to the day, Sam woke me up at 3:14am with a slap in the face.  Literally.  I'm not kidding.  He slapped me across the face.  It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but once I realized he was standing there staring at me, I was immediately awake.

He had had a bad dream.  Something about a train.  He was busy climbing into bed with us before I could get the whole story. 

He needed his Mommy.  And snuggled himself right up against me and proceeded to go right back to sleep.

This is the child who was at an orphanage with 100 other kids before his first birthday.  And 18 months later, landed in Kentucky.  So, I’m just guessing here, but this is probably the first time he has ever had a bad dream and sought comfort from someone else.

That reality makes me sad.  But oh, so happy that I get to be the one he comes to when he’s scared, when he’s hurt, when he’s sick…bring on the bad dreams!  We can take ‘em!

And for the record, I carefully delivered him back to his bed after about an hour.  While I enjoyed every second of his snuggles, we only have a queen.  And being sandwiched between your 6ft plus husband and a 5-year-old who is all arms and legs and elbows and knees, isn’t the best way to get a good night sleep.

A milestone.

My husband pointed out to me yesterday that I had not posted some important news on the blog.

And while he is correct, I'll point out the fact that the "waiting game" of adoption looks waaay different for us this time around. While we wait and wonder and day dream about life with three kids (maybe that's just me), the first two still seem to want to be fed and bathed and played with and have clean clothes...

Therefore, my time is devoted to things other than waiting this time around. And for that, I am extremely grateful!

I received an email the Friday before Christmas that our paperwork was on its way to China! Very exciting news...and I might have conveyed it to you, but I was busy being a hot, drugged-up mess following surgery the day before. I'm not real certain I totally understood what it meant then. And I'm hoping I didn't respond to the email because, as I said earlier, my communication skills were shot at that point.

But even more exciting is the phone call I received Tuesday.... We are LID!!! Note: China is very fond of their acronyms, as almost every step in the process has one. LID means "log in date". That paperwork that took off to China on December 21, has made its way to its destination and has been accounted for. Or logged in, if you will.

Which means...drum roll please...we can now receive a referral!

That news flipped Kenny out a little, but in all reality, it could be another 3-6 months before we get that paperwork, and another 2-3 months after that to travel.

The boys have given their predictions... Sam and Daddy guessed June, Charlie guessed July and I guessed August/September. I'm just being practical. It could be longer!

Top 10 Non-resolutions for 2013. Emphasis on NON.

10.  Teach Sam to tie his shoes.

I'm not even sure where to start with this. Kenny has tried several time, without any luck. Stupid bunny ears...

9.  Go a whole year without having surgery.  Or an ambulance ride.  Or any other weird, medical anomaly that no one else would ever have.

We've lived in KY for 7 and half years and I've had 5 surgeries, popcorn infections in my throat, torn ligaments in my thumb while doing laundry, several ambulance rides for stupid things like picking up babies, etc...all that to say, I'm a fairly healthy person.  Promise.  Weird things just happen to me.

I'm going for even MORE healthy this year!

8.  Renovate the laundry room.

Sounds silly, I know. Right now, it's a concrete floor, one concrete wall, 3 almost walls with floor joist and insulation taunting me by falling on my head every once in a while for a ceiling. All I need is some drywall, a little paint, some of that peel and stick tile, some cute hooks and shelves and it would make that tiny space much more likable. We've been talking about doing it for several years, just need to make it happen. 

7.  Take the boys to their first Alabama football game.

Alabama plays Kentucky this year in Lexington, so the plan is to hit them up while they are close to home. The boys have really gotten into football this year and I made the mistake of asking them if they wanted to go to the AL vs. KY game this coming fall. Which means I spent the next 3 weeks explaining to Sam that NO, we weren't going to a football game today and NO, not tomorrow and NO, I have no idea what you will eat.

I know better than to tell him stuff more than 3 and a half seconds before it happens...

6.  Buy a hair bow.

This one is totally up to China.  So no dragging your feet on this one, ok?

5.  Fix baby girl's hair with said hair bow.

Wanna know a secret?  I was in 8th grade before I did my own hair.  Yes.  Really.  I've never had a great affinity for styling hair.  Which is why the boys get a buzz cut every 3 weeks and I've had the same general hairstyle since...oh, about 8th grade. 

Some one's gonna need to give me a pigtails lesson...

4.  Refinish the ever growing collection of old furniture that is piling up in the basement.

The side of the road is an excellent place to shop for furniture, but also a really good place to frustrate your husband when your collection starts to overflow into his man-space.  I have a small chest that I'm going to turn into a changing table.  I also have two non-matching chairs that need a little repair and refinishing and then they will be used at my new farmhouse table.  Oh, you haven't seen my new table....me either...

Hey Dad!  Quit falling off ladders and get to work on my table!  Chop, chop!  And thanks, by the way...

3.  Paint a room.

Little girls room is currently referred to as the "yellow room".  Also, Kenny's room, Daddy's closet, the junk room, guest bedroom ...I could go on, but you get the picture.  It's the catch all and currently where all of Kenny's clothes are since our "master bedroom" isn't really all that masterful and only has about a quarter of the amount of closet space I would like.  So, some reorganizing is in order.  And painting, etc to make the "yellow room", yellow no more. 

And more fit for a precious little girl!

2.  Go to China.

Again, I have no control over this one.  But I'm going one way or another.  I'm planning on marking this one off the list sometime this summer!

1.  Read the entire Bible.

I'm ashamed to say it, but there are actually parts of the Bible I've never read.  So, I'm throwing it out on a public forum...please feel free to hold me accountable and ask me if I'm sticking to this one.  The first week has gone great.  I found an app that lays it all out day by day.  It jumps around a bit instead of just picking it up in Genesis and hitting it for the long haul.  At the current rate, I actually should finish the first part of November.  I'm just praying I make it through week 2 without losing focus.

---------------------------------------------

So, there you have it.  My non-resolutions.  Because if I called them resolutions, it would just be something else to add to the list of things I won't get done this year.  I'm going with goals... 

The lofty goals of 2013, most of which involve getting home our newest family member or getting the house ready to bring her home.

You could say I have tunnel vision.....

It's okay.  I agree.

A scriptural honk.

If you know me...at all...you know I have a tendency to say things before they go through the God-given filter otherwise known as my brain before they come out of my mouth.  In other words, I speak without thinking, put my foot in my mouth, have verbal diarrhea...whatever you want to call it...almost daily. 

Okay.  Okay...

Almost hourly.

But the good thing is I don't have a potty mouth (aka I don't frequently say four letter words).  I just say what comes to mind before I have time to think through the ramifications of what I'm saying.

I had a similar problem in college when someone told me my spiritual gift was humility...for other people.  Now, if you think about it, that's a pretty funny way to tell me to shut my yapper!  Don't worry, it came from someone who didn't get my humor.  I wasn't offended.

Now that I've painted that picture for you, let me introduce you to "honk!"...

The "honk!" came from a recent Nissan commercial, which I find terribly funny.  Take a second and watch...

 



The gist is, the car honks when the guy takes things too far...

Brilliant!  All I need now is someone to follow me around to "honk!" when I step over that line.  Kenny and friend Nicole gladly took over that chore, and actually enjoy it a little too much I think, seeing as I get "honked" a lot.  Even when it's not totally necessary.

But earlier this week I found what I will refer to as my scriptural honk...

Oh that you would keep silent,
and it would be your wisdom!

Job 13:5

 

So, not only should I take my signs from Nissan, but it also appears God commands me in scripture to be silent...so that I can be wise...

 

Or at least appear that way.

 

Gonna need your help on this one, God!

 

Here.

Ok.

Sorry.

I had knee surgery 5 days before Christmas, which went fairly well, thanks for asking.  Then Christmas happened.  Then New Year’s.  And we spent a week driving all over the southeast United States.  With a mouse in the car.

But that’s another story.

Merry Christmas.  My apologies for my absence.  I assume no one is reading, then I receive demanding emails requesting more posts. 

So, I give the people what they want.

We spent Christmas day at home before taking off to see the family.  And Christmas this year was a little extra special around here, even if no one else felt it.

You see, the evening of December 14^th, following the horrific events of that day in Connecticut, Kenny and I had to answer some really hard questions from our 9-year-old about death.

But Satan didn’t have complete triumph that day as those questions led to us being able to pray with him to receive Christ.  It was a bittersweet day, knowing so many were hurting, but having a huge peace knowing that if the same thing ever happen to Charlie, as a follower of Christ, we would all be reunited again in heaven one day.

The illustration of adoption came full circle that Friday evening.  Charlie, a former orphan from Ethiopia who had been adopted by an earthly father, made a choice to follow his Heavenly Father, adopted again as a child of God.

Yeah.

Amazing.

And to top it off, our Christmas-countdown-we-are-thankful-chain-thingy ended with adoption on Christmas Day.

Talk about cool.

And just a little icing on the cake...I got a super cool travel crock-pot, new comfy black pants and a charming little shower curtain from some of my favorite people. 

No, it doesn’t take much to please me.

Unless you are a mouse.  And in my car.  Which is totally not cool.  In addition to freaking me out by playing hide-and-seek in the console and glove compartment, he ate my granola bar, which is no way to make friends with me.  His destiny ended with a slice of cheese and a mouse trap, so he didn’t make the return trip to Kentucky.

Our Christmas wrap-up:  a new brother in Christ, good surgery, fun Christmas, good travels and a dead mouse!

2013 awaits us…