This is the life

Something about this image is still so surreal.


When Scott was trying to convince me that we needed to take both the babies, he said something that has kind of stuck with me. I don't remember his exact wording, but basically he said he felt by adopting we were rescuing kids from the gates of hell. Yes, God is soveriegn and saves those whom he chooses. But somehow that still goes hand in hand with his covenant over families. Anyway, what Scott said reminded me of Jude 23 "...snatch others from the fire and save them." So, that we did. Here's to you God! Four more feet to dance before your throne!


Today the babies slept on the patio couch while Jordan and Scott played on our playground. The patio couch is actually on our play area; I guess you could say we had some family time...sorta. As much as you can have family time with two sleeping babies. I literally carried them outside, one laying on top of the other, with my camera around my neck. As I came down the deck steps Jordan exclaimed "Look at all the babies!" haha!


Big boy. Huge. This is a 0-3 month onesie that will last one more month at best. In the above picture, Micah is wearing a newborn onesie and has lots of room to grow. JW is a giant!


thrill seeker


Scott's parents came up for about 12 hours to meet the babies. Now that is some serious grandparent dedication for ya! We had a nice visit. Jordan was wore out the first night they were here. Morgan got lucky and had two sleeping kiddos laying with her. Jordan LOVES her Aunt Morgan. She even slept in Morgan's bed that night.


Morgan and Micah. 3 years ago when Jordan was a baby Morgan wasn't allowed to walk around with her. She had to hold her while sitting on the couch. She has grown up so much in the last 3 years! I didn't think twice about her walking around holding a baby. She will be a great mom someday.


People have been asking us how we are doing. Well, we are doing pretty darn good. The transition is going better than I ever expected it would. Jordan has taken to being a sister like it is second nature. She loves to hold, feed, and help change the babies. She loves putting the pacifier in Micah's mouth. Something about knowing she quieted a crying baby makes her feel good. Amazingly, I am doing great. Bonding with both the babies is going wonderfully. I get about 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night; it is enough to function. I guess that is all I could ask for.

The second most asked question is whether the babies are on the same schedule. Well, I make them be on the same schedule. When one wakes to eat I feed him/her then wake the other. Night is of course the hardest. By the time I feed and change them both I have been awake for well over an hour; this makes going back to sleep hard at times. Maybe I should feed them both at the same time. I don't know. It is hard to feed them both at the same time. They sleep about 3 hours between feedings, give or take a little. Their eating has really picked up in the last few days. JW takes between 3-4 oz at a time; Micah takes 2 or 3. They should start getting fat rolls any day now :) I love fat baby thighs! Don't you?

Setting the record straight

Since my loving husband has informed me that he feels slandered by my last post (insert rolling of eyes here) I am coming to set the record straight. Here is the straight version of Scott's wussiness...he can't hang. Plain and simple.

So it turns out he is NOT made of steal

Scott is wussing out on his night shifts. Already. He said all the awake/asleep/awake/asleep cycles were too hard for him. Psht. Whatever! So now the routing will be him staying up till the babies midnight or 1 AM feeding and I take over from there. Um, yeah. Do you think at this point it is fair to say "You got us into this?" LOL! No? Well, I think it is safe to say that when the school year finally starts he will be more than ready to go back to work.

Speaking of back to school, Scott got a promotion of sorts. He got a job as an instructional coach job and will be at a high school in the fall. He is so excited and I am beyond proud of him. The math coordinator for the county personally recommended him to the hiring principal. When interviewing him he told Scott he was highly recommended and if Scott wanted the job, it was his. That is it. The entire interview (if you can call it that) lasted 10 min. So, yay Scott! But boo on what that means for my summer help. He will be in training for 3 straight weeks in June and one in July :( I suppose I will be fielding the babies and the 3 year old baby all by myself.

A little change of pace

I had to change my playlist. After everything that has happened this week the music no longer seemed fitting. I needed something that screamed "Glory to God!" Considering God is for sure about to show himself in the way he provides for us I thought that this song worked. "Greater things are yet to come; greater things are still to be done in this city...There is no one like our God."

Once again I am reminded that it isn't about me. I am just a vessel, and a pretty weak one at that. The story that is being written through me and Scott is all about God glorifying himself through the lives of three unsuspecting children. If it is one thing that our three will never be able to say, it is that God didn't make it clear where they were supposed to be :) I can't wait to see how the next few months play out as we trust God to financially provide for us. I am confident that he will provide, though I really have no idea how.

This is going to be harder than it seems...

To try to ensure that we don't get too sleep deprived, what with two babies and all, Scott and I are alternating nights up with the babies. His last week of school was this week (God's timing is always perfect) so he is home with us all summer. So, unlike with newborn Jordan, Scott will experience the loveliness that is an overnight with a baby...or two. Anyway, first night on his watch and somehow bruiser fell out of the swing. It wasn't Scott's fault, really. I hadn't been buckling him in either; he was taking his cues from me. All I know is that Scott heard him crying and looked over to see him on the ground :( And we are supposed to keep them alive for another 20 or so years until they are self sufficient?! What was God thinking? 5 days into his God ordained life and he has already taken a tumble head first onto the floor. I am not too surprised. He is already holding his head up some and is pretty mobile for a newborn. And that head, well, it is giant. It's forward momentum would be hard to stop haha! Poor bub!

WHAT? 2 BABIES?!

I finally have a second to post some pics and the story. Yes, we got two babies. No, they are not twins. They don't even have the same birthday, birth state, or birth family. A couple months ago I asked An Open Door not to call us with a baby until they knew for sure the birthmom wasn't going to change her mind. After having had 2 or 3 adoptions fall through I didn't want to go through the ups and downs anymore. I don't need any notice for prep time anyhow. Just call me and tell me I have a baby! That is the way I wanted it. Then, a few weeks ago we decided it couldn't hurt to be on the waiting list with another agency/lawyer. Afterall, Open Door seemed to have a shortage of birthmoms who were willing to place with a white family.

Okay, Tuesday I got a messsage on my cell from Open Door. I suspect it was left late in the morning...I didn't get it until noon or so. The director asked me if I was ready to go pick up my baby girl! She was born May 8th and was free to be picked up immediately. Her birthmom's 10 days had already expired so as soon as we signed on the dotted line (and handed over a hefty check) she was all ours with no fears of someone deciding they had made the wrong decision. Then, no more than 4 hours later the phone rang. The caller ID said it was the other agency/lawyer. I honestly thought about not answering it. In my gut I knew exactly why he was calling and I was scared to death! I was afraid he would tell me there was a boy and that Scott would back out on the girl we committed to earlier because he wanted a boy so badly. So JFT (the agency/lawyer) said he had a situation and immediately thought of us. He had a birthmom give birth early Tuesday who was prepared to place her little boy for adoption. She hadn't signed yet but was supposed to be meeting the adoption counselor the next day (Wednesday) to sign. (We found out later that this birthmom had chosen us when first seeing our book. She didn't want to look at anyone else's profile; she said she knew we were the family for her baby boy.) By the way, in SC there is no time period where birthmoms can change their minds. Once she signs, it is done. So while she hadn't signed yet, JFT wanted to give us the opportunity to accept the baby and pick him up from the hospital on Wednesday after birthmom signed. Well, obviously we couldn't do that because we were supposed to be in Warner Robbins on WEdnesday picking up a baby girl. I reluctantly told Scott about baby boy. At that point I already felt like the girl was mine. In my heart I was committed to her and didn't feel like I could back out. But to not tell Scott about baby boy would be wrong and deceptive. JFT gave us overnight to make a decision. Wednesday morning we were at odds to say the least. The decision ultimately was not which baby to take. We both felt the girl was supposed to be ours. At this point the decision was whether to take both babies. I DID NOT WANT BOTH! Nothing in me wanted both. One baby is hard enough and expensive enough. We had no way to finance or afford two adoptions (40k in total). Not only would we be faced with paying for two baby's adoptions, we would have the daily expense of two babies as well as the looming expense of the necessary van. I cried because I was terrified of having 2 babies to care for. Scott cried because he felt that the little boy was supposed to be ours as well. He kept telling me that we had to rescue little boy so God's covenant promise could rest on him. I, on the other hand, don't feel the spiritual responsibility for every baby ever presented to me. At some point it came down to submission to God through trusting Scott. Scott was very serious and not backing down. I felt physically sick from fear but told him to call JFT to make arrangements. Then we threw together a quick diaper bag and rushed off to pick up baby girl. At 5:00 Wednesday night we were notifed that baby boy's mom had indeed signed papers. He was discharged from the hospital into the care of one of JFT's adoption counselors. Yesterday (Thursday) at 6:00 we were delivered baby boy...almost exactly 24 hours after receiving baby girl.

Baby girl was given the name Micah Ruth. We had picked out Micah for baby #2 and while I love Micah for a boy, we couldn't agree on a different girl name. So Micah is Micah Ruth, Ruth after my grandma. Jeremiah became Jeremiah because we had to come up with a name. It is really that simple. All of my kids have Bible verses with their names; it helps me pray for them, claiming God's word for their lives. It was between Gabriel and Jeremiah and well, we couldn't think of a verse for Gabriel. So Jeremiah Wade it is; Wade is after my grandpa. Micah was born weighing a whopping 5 lbs 12 oz and was 18.5 inches. Jeremiah, or Bruiser as he should be known, was 8 lbs 6 oz at birth and 20 inches with the biggest dang head ever! They came home 24 hours apart.

Who would've thought this would happen? What? I did? REally? As my friend Kelley oh so politely reminded me during my freak-out "I can't believe my husband is doing this to me" moments, not too long ago I blogged about the possibility of getting two. I was pretty certain that we would have 2 this year. I remember walking with Cary Drinkard and telling her the same thing. BUT, I was a little slow in my thinking...I made the mistake of assuming I would magically get pregnant and adopt in one year. That seemed like the logical end to this gut feeling I had. (God, please close up my womb FOR GOOD! What a nightmare that would be!) Never did I think I would be raising two babies as twins.

So here we are. We became a family of 5 in a matter of hours. To say we are still adjusting would be the understatement of the year. Jordan is a proud big sis. She constantly wants to hold one of the babies. At feeding time she is running to our sides to help. Here she is when she got to hold Micah for the first time.


helping feed big boy


the bruiser himself. No, you aren't imagining how red he is. Evidently this is caused by high hemoglobin levels and will fix itself with time.



the princess herself


Let me just add that God is so good! These are the best babies ever! They rarely cry, unlike their older sister who cried and cried and cried for hours on end. They fall asleep on their own AND last night I got to sleep for 4 hours straight. Micah slept for 5 hours her first night home with us. They are great sleepers :)

Also, I am not ashamed to say that we are raising funds to help pay for the two newest babies in our home. God led us down this path and we feel confident he will supernaturally provide. We are hoping to speak at some churches in the area soon. But in the meantime, if you'd like to contribute please don't hesitate :) Thanks!

6 months and still waiting

You read that right. We have now been waiting for Micah for a little over 6 months. I am in shock over this! I realize that average wait time for transracial adoptions is 6-9 months. I am just surprised to still be waiting. At the risk of sounding arrongant, as far as adoptive couples go, we are "desirable". We know this and have been told this by our agency. Even the agency is suprised that we are still waiting! But we are. If we are still waiting in another 6 months I will begin to question whether Jordan is supposed to have a sibling :) Oh well. Just wanted to mark the 6 month period with a post.

She works hard for the money

Right now, Jordan's favorite way to waste time is vacuuming up dried beans.


I think I should put her to work.


And I think I will pay her a salary of...


cake batter!


And how is this for a quick change of subject? I had a wonderful compliment by one of the mom's of a student I shot before prom a couple weeks ago. It pumped me up so much that I decided to offer a special for blog readers only! I have no idea how many are out there or who you are, but if you call, email, or leave me a comment I'll give you a reduced sitting fee of $40 (savings of $35). That will cover a photo shoot that will last about 1.5-2 hours and you will get to choose from as many usable photos that I have. (Most professional photographers will offer 20-25 shots...I offer as many as I can get.) Of course any photos you order have to be paid for, but I am discounting the sitting fee. I will show you any photo I think is worth printing. If you want to see more of my work, I started a flikr site. I have enjoyed using it because I can see how my work has progressed over the last few years.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannonsfavorites/

On being a MOM

"Mama! Come here!"
"Mama, look!"
"Mama, nooooo!"
"Mama, ready to get out!" (yelled from the bathtub)
"Mama watch! I'm gonna play the guitar."
"Mama, where's bear?"
But my all time favorite :"Mama, I pooped."

This is my third Mother's Day and I still get a little centimental. There was part of me that wondered if I would ever celebrate it. I mean, I guess I knew eventually I would, but infertility has a way of placing seeds of doubt about one's future as a woman. But alas, here I am...with the whiniest, most strong-willed, tempermental, and fun almost 3 year old ever :) As I type she is pitching a royal fit over God only knows what. I am not sure she even knows why she is stomping her feet and crying. Seriously. I swear that there are times that she throws fits for drama's sake. But I love her anyway. Today, after refusing to nap for 2 hours she started to scream! She rarely does this during nap/rest time. She is quite content playing by herself for a couple hours. Scott went to go rescue her and found her in her closet with the big huge travel stroller on top of her. When I went to her room later I discovered why. In her bed was every pair of shoes she owns with the exception of one, her dress-up fairy wings, about 10 books, and 4 stuffed animals. One shoe from the missing pair of shoes was under the stroller wheel. She had taken all of her shoes out of the closet, one pair at a time. She has a lot of shoes in her closet because I buy ahead of time when they go on clearance. So while only 2 pairs actually fit now, she had them all in her bed...no doubt she was practicing putting them on. This morning before church she put her pretty pink sandals on all by her self; as she came prancing in the kitchen exclaiming that she had done it all by herself I noticed that they were the sweetest left shoe on the right foot and right shoe on the left foot ever! And you know what? I let her go to church like that! She was so proud of herself that I didn't have the heart to tell her they were on wrong. I love being a mom, even though there are 3 out of the 7 days a week when I swear I am going to lose my mind.

Not sure how old this pic is. I just found it on an old memory card. I believe it was taken back in October. It isn't necessarily "good", but I like her eyes in it.


On an adoption note, no news really. We have accepted a 17 month old boy but aren't sure if his mom is going to actually go through with it. For privacy reasons I don't want to get into his story. It is his to tell really. I will say that his mom lives very close to us so she is a little hesitant to actually go through with her decision. I can understand; it would be hard if I were her to possibly see him around with a new family. You can pray for Michael and his mom. We really feel that Michael is supposed to be Micah and are praying with that end in mind. What a huge transition this will/may be for our whole family. I think it will be way harder than bringing a baby home. In some ways I grieve missing the first 17 months of his life. But he may not be mine to grieve. In the end his mom still has to sign and do what seems best for her and Michael. So please pray for all involved, for God's peace and grace to abound.

Photo fun!

God blessed me with multiple photo shoots over the last couple of weeks. I just wanted to share a few.

Isn't she just gorgeous? It wasn't hard to take good pics of P. Her mom asked me to take a few pictures of her before prom. I am so glad I did! In fact, I was so inspired by her that I asked to take more of her :)


And this is P's sister...who, by the way, wasn't supposed to be getting her picture taken. But I had free time and the light was good, so I took advantage of it.


Since when do girls wear flats to prom? I guess I am getting old.


My BFF's six week old daughter. She slept through 95% of the shoot; it makes things easy but it also means that all the pictures look very similar!


BFF's son #1


And BFF's son #2


BFF's mom's dogs...just because I think dog pics are so dang cute!