We received a bunch of formula from a couple from church. They went to visit her sister who had "extra" cans of formula. Seriously, they gave us about 15 cans of Enfamil. We also got a couple of can of Similac from another couple from church. (Thanks to the Byrds and Gonzalez's if you read this blog) :)
We were talking about it at dinner last night and Taylor said, "Are we the most blessed family ever?" Yes, God has been very good! I'm so glad that the kids get to witness His continuing and amazing provision.
I love seeing how our kids love each other. It is such a blessing to see them genuinely love and care for each other. It is especially fun when it isn't prompted but I get a sneak peak when they don't know that I am watching. Here is Emery loving on Mya. I set the bottle that I had made down to run and do something else before I started feeding Mya. I came back to Emery very intently feeding Mya, and doing a pretty good job for one who can't always feed himself without making a huge mess.
Taylor is also a very sweet, loving boy. He has really stepped up as a big brother and been a huge help. Here is a conversation I heard from the other room between he and Autumn when they didn't know I was listening...
Autumn: I love Mya best because she's a girl. Like you love Emery best. Taylor: I love all of you best: mommy, daddy, you, Emery, and Mya. I love all of you. But I don't like it when you aren't nice to Emery, like when you don't share with him or when you are mean to him. That isn't loving and I don't like it when you treat him that way.
He said this in a very gentle, but matter of fact way. Then they just kept right on playing. I actually have noticed a difference in the way that Autumn has been treating Emery since then. She actually has made a noticeable effort to try and love on him more and share more with him instead of saying, "he's bothering me". Thanks Taylor for loving your sister enough to correct her.
Today was a day that both strawberries and raspberries came out at our house. Taylor was sick last weekend with a fever and slight sore throat which went away on Monday. So of course, I sent him to school Tues and Thurs (a mistake as you'll see but hindsight is always 20/20, right?) Autumn then came down with the same symptoms on Wednesday. Thursday afternoon Zach brought Taylor home saying that his teacher thought he had chicken pox. Weird because he's had the vaccine but these things do happen and he did have a couple spots on his face and a couple on his right hand and wrist. We thought, well let's see what he looks like in the morning and then we'll have to send out the dreaded chicken pox exposure note. Last night, Autumn developed a "sandy papery" rash with those of you with kids might recognize as the "strep rash". This morning, Taylor was jumping around as usual but complained about his tongue. Sure enough it is a beautiful example of a "strawberry tongue". The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it is pretty cool, it looks like a strawberry, red with little whitish bumps. Another telltale sign of strep (scarlett fever). Sorry about exposing our whole school to strep, but at least its not chicken pox, right! :)
On a more fun fruit note, Mya is starting to do "raspberries". Being as she is so much more vocal than any of our other kids and wakes up in the middle of the night just chattering it does not surprise me at all that she has found this new, fun way to use her tongue and make noise. She is simply adorable!
I love observing how the kids play together. Their imaginations are incredible and sometimes this leads to very creative uses of their toys and other objects. This morning Autumn came into her room where I was with Mya and Emery and started collecting her play dishes. When I asked what she was doing she said, "I have to get all of these for Pirate Taylor. He needs them in the ship." I went out into the living room to find the scene above on the couch. When I asked who Autumn was Taylor replied, "she is my servant that puts the sail up ...and you know...". So much for 1st mate :). She does have a good pirate face though. They then turned into diggers, dump trucks, and giant excavators. Our house is a complete mess but I must say that I was sad when I had to say it was time to start school.
Emery has suddenly turned into a little toddler in the last couple of weeks. He is sleeping in a big boy bed (sharing a room with his big brother), knows what he wants and wants everyone else to know, plays using his imagination, loves to "help" with Mya, his overall volume has increased and he is starting to use more words. He started saying "da da", "all done" (ah dah), and "hot" (hah) at about 15 mo, but is jabbering a lot more and trying actual words as well. Some of his new words include: ma ma (finally), whoa, uh oh, Taylor (lah ler), Mya, (i ya), Molly (ma ye), more (mawr), bye bye (bah bah), bus (buh --also used for truck, car, and train). Notice Autumn is the only one of our family not listed. He does try sometimes but it doesn't really sound like anything consistenly :). He's also finally doing animal sounds with elephant being his favorite. Mostly, he walks around with a sweet, slightly mischievious grin on his face. We love you Emers!
We all had a great time last night for Autumn's birthday party. We got to make individual pizzas and Kim made a caterpillar cake for Autumn. She got a new bike, a cool kitchen and a bunch of other stuff!
Papa and Nana Noon came to visit between Christmas and New Years. Kim's project for her and Nana was to get the girls room set up. They succeeded and it looks great! Here the pics.
They made Autumn a new comforter for her bed and added some shelves above the dresser.
They added some very cool flowers to the walls.
New curtains were made as well!
Somehow they managed to grow a tree in the corner. Not sure how they pulled that off.
Fading memories ignored I crawl across the forest floor Pool reflects an orphan child Dirty, lost, alone and wild Fatherless and nameless still Fallen heart and broken, will there ever be a place where I belong
I cower ‘neath the monster trees And try to stand on tired feet But gravity knocks me to the ground Where I give up, and tears roll down I claw the dust and beg the end Curse the day that I began to hope there’d be a place where I belong
I hear a sound I recognize You lift my chin and seek my eyes Song of love You sing to me I ache to sing it back to Thee "Father Love prepares a place Brother Jesus leads the way Follow to the place where you belong!"
How did I miss this wondrous song? The forest sang it all along "River rinses all your shame Father offers you His name Father Love prepares a home Brother Jesus leads you on Follow to the place where you belong!"
"Father Love prepares a place Brother Jesus leads the way Follow to the place where you belong Follow to the place where you belong!"
- Chris Rice
I think this is one of the best adoption songs I have ever heard. You can get it here (, AmazonMP3) if you are interested.
