Imagination Grove

Recently, we traveled back to Illinois so our DH could perform a wedding ceremony for one of our dear youth who is now grown.  We always enjoy these trips because we get a little vacation.  The girls love seeing our old friends, dancing the night away at the wedding, swimming in a hotel, and our little side trip plans.  Imagination Grove  was one of our destinations this time around.  It is a hidden gem just outside of Bloomington, IL.  The year before we moved, I discovered it when I took a group of boys I was helping home school on a maple syrup trip.  I have been dreaming of taking the girls here since that day.  It is a natural play area that encourages you to get dirty!  Perfect for my peanuts!

 A creek.  Need I say more?  She hiked up and down the creek for a good hour with her Daddy before exploring anything else.  This place had the makings of Jillian's paradise.  Monkey bars, a creek, sand, mud, trees to climb, a zip line..WOW was she happy!

 The digging pit had this sign next to it.  We dug a good long while, but never ended up in China.

 For the love of a good, clean creek, Molly played!

 Our Anna Mei was busy fetching water.

 She used it to "cook" all morning in this outdoor kitchen area.  Water plus dirt/sand with many pots, spoons, and muffin tins equals a morning of bliss for my little imaginative girl.

 Trees.  Oh the trees!

 You couldn't help but just be beaming as you watched Jilly, because she was so happy.

 She looks so grown up in these pictures.

 Anytime our girl is able to play this freely without worry, and be so very happy, we are thrilled!

 Molly was covered in mud at the end of the afternoon.

And so was this sweet one.  

What a wonderful afternoon with great memories!  Another bit of time to just be absolutely grateful to God for as we marvel at our chance to parent these great little ones.

Her First Day of School

My baby girl started a summer school program at the University last week.  Two days a week from 9:00 to 12:00 this little one has an army of professionals assigned to her.  They are helping develop her communication skills, expand her vocabulary, and (the coolest to me) teaching her to be more aware of her listening helpers.  There are audiologists, professors, and SLP students who get to love on her, helping her grown in all these ways, while I watch through a one way window.  I am always so hesitant to leave my girls, but this baby was ready.  She is so tiny in her little class as she is sporting her 18 month little sundresses and size 6 sandals, but she is watching and learning so much.  Of course, her baby doll is welcome in class too as the baby literally never, never leaves her side.  By the end of the first day, she was exhausted, and so were Anna Mei and I as we tagged along.  I am a bit relieved that the program runs only five weeks as keeping up this commute would be hard. In the fall, she will get to attend preschool in the same incredible school district where our Jilly attends, but for the summer we are so thrilled she has an opportunity at the University.  We are so blessed to live so close to so many superior services for our babes.  I can't wait to see where this summer takes her.  

Sisters

I am often contacted by families who have brought home a babe like my Jilly who are considering adopting again.  They have valid concerns about how adding another child to their family might affect their sweet one with such high emotional needs.  My treasure, Jillian, requires much.  Here emotional needs, and all that it takes to care for her, can be overwhelming, but I am always sure to tell those that ask that while adding a child to your family is never an easy ride under any circumstance giving Jilly her sisters has been such a rich blessing.  It has had challenges of course just like any other change we make to our lives, but her sisters love and care for her like no one else.  I often have explained to Anna Mei that Jilly's mind is not going to grow up like hers will, and that momma will always have to take special care of her as she gets bigger.  My Anna Mei, being the nurturer that she is, will be the first to tell me that she will take care of Jilly for me when I am not able to anymore.  I remember the first time she came to me with that thought.  At three years old, being newly home herself, she declared herself Jilly's future guardian.  Friends, this is the gospel in action.  

Bringing home our Molly Kate has been no different.  She loves her sisters, and our family.  I looked out the other night in the backyard while doing my dinner dishes to see Molly, barely three years old, pushing Jillian on the swing.  Jillian loves swinging.  It comforts her and makes her so happy.  It was darling to see Molly trying to care for Jilly in that way. 

What a rich and incredible blessing it is to have these sweet babe's in our family.  They have altered our hearts and changed our thinking in ways I never would have dreamed as we planned out our lives.  It was never my plan to have a baby I would have to care for into adulthood, but what a beautiful and perfect plan the Lord had for me as my daughter, Jillian, has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.  My arms will never know an empty nest, and, frankly, I couldn't be happier about that.  I picture myself rocking this girl, and holding her like a newborn cuddled against my chest well into my eighties.  What a precious gift God has given me in that, and what a beautiful gift He has given each of us in this family to love one as special as our Jilly.

Hiking Mattheissen State Park

 We took a bit of a road trip last week and made a stop at our favorite state park hiking spot in Illinois.  When Em was little, she and I would hike Matthiessen State Park regularly.  I knew Jilly would be in her element as you literally hike down a creek in the canyon.  To say this girl was happy just doesn't do the day justice.  Jillian was ecstatic!  

 It was warm, but not too hot so the day was perfect!

 Anna doesn't usually love dirt or bugs, but she was great.  I think she enjoyed herself too.

 There are lots of places to stop for pictures and Emily tolerated my requests to pose.

 Have you ever seen a bigger smile?   At one end of the trail, you find this deeper swimming hole that is fed by a magnificent waterfall.  It is truly spectacular, and made Jillian so, so happy.

 I photographed Emily on this rock many, many times when she was young. 

 We literally parked here for an hour just watching this amazing little girl play!  It was wonderful.

 Sometimes it is challenging to find something that everyone can do and enjoy, but this day was fabulous!

When we left the park, the girls slept for a couple of hours as we hiked three and half miles.

This tiny little one is much like her sister Jilly in that she is all in where mud and water are concerned.  She hiked most of the three miles herself!  What a trooper.  We are so blessed to have a day together to enjoy the beauty God has created!  They did so well that I think more hiking is in our future.

One Year Home

At the end of last month, we celebrated one year with this amazing girl.  It hasn't taken long to be completely smitten for her.  She still loves to be carried in my ergo, rocked to sleep, and cuddled which this momma loves! Her attachment to our family has been a dream.  She is truly an amazing little one.

 She is tiny for a three year old at 35 inches and only 25 pounds, but so full of life.  She is constantly joking, dancing, and hamming it up.  When hiking last week, she was crossing the "balance beam bridge" and thought it was hilarious to pretend to loose her balance making all the onlookers laugh.

 She is so smart too.  Having only had the ability to hear for six months, this girl's language is taking off.  She is "spelling" out words with the letters she knows, counting to five, and naming all of her colors.  I can't believe how quickly she is catching on to life.

 She loves, loves her baby doll.  It is always right next to her.  It is adorable to watch her play out her life with her little doll.  Jilly loves to wrestle with Daddy right now, and it was adorable to see Molly Kate playing that out with her doll the other night.

 I can't even begin to imagine a life without this darling little girl in it.  She is always up to something as she is so very busy.  She loves to pester her sister, mooch any food you might have, and scoop and dump whatever she can find.

She is also pretty fond of us too.  Her potential to change this world for the better is limitless, and I love watching her grow.  She has such an effect on people as they get to know her.  I am so very blessed that God has allowed her to be my daughter.  I am crazy, crazy for her.  Happy one year home my love!  You have been a tremendous blessing!

Baby 4 Herr T-shirt Fundraiser

The graphic on the front reads..

Children are a gift from the Lord

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

Blessed are they whose quiver is full

The back will feature..

one less orphan

one more in the quiver

(and the list of names as they come in)

SHIRTS ARE $20.00 

(plus $2.00 shipping per shirt)

ORDER THROUGH PAYPAL BELOW...

(you don't need a paypal account to order)

The Sale Has Finished.

Growing Up

 This girl is growing up faster than I could have ever planned for.

 I am so excited to watch who she is becoming.

I know the next year will bring many changes, but I am confident that God has great plans for her.

 I continue to give thanks that this girl made me a momma as the lessons I have learned parenting her have been so valuable.  I wish I could just go back and enjoy her littlehood all over again as I never dreamed it would go so fast, but here we are growing up.

We Are Not Fragile

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

I was driving home with my littlest peanut from speech therapy Friday afternoon.  It was just she and I, along with our amazing speech therapist, at the session.  Our speech therapist is practically a part of our family as she has been working with Jillian the last two and a half years since we have moved here.  I am so thankful for her.  Since our speech therapist is so incredible, Miss Molly and I have started seeing her too.  Molly's speech and language development was significantly behind her peers as she couldn't hear anything we were saying until about four months ago when she got her first set of hearing aids.  Since beginning to hear though our girl's language has taken off.  She has made nearly a year's growth in the last four months which in itself is incredible, but when you throw in the fact that she has only heard English for a bit less than a year, it is is down right impossible that she is making such great strides.  She is bright our girl.  She is creative.  Inventive. Amazing.  Honestly, her potential to change this world for the better is limitless!  This week, she even started labeling objects with color words.  I suspected she had learned them, and so I set up a few test scenarios for her.  Well, she does indeed know her colors!  Anyway, I thought about how her special needs have really been a nonissue.  I recounted the first conversation I had about her in my head with the worker assigned to her file by the agency.  I thought about the feelings I had when I found out that so many families had asked for her file as I was sure she was meant to come home to us.  There were many, many families "in front" of us looking at our daughter's paperwork.  Her special need, and saying yes to her, was risky.  Radial Dysplasia can be associated with a lot of scary stuff, but oh how I am thankful that we didn't let fear rob us of the pleasure of knowing this baby girl and calling her our daughter.  She is such a joy!  She is an amazing, wonderful little babe who is bright, capable, and remarkable!  I recently talked with a friend about a podcast she listened to that challenged Christians to stop thinking we are so fragile.  I thought that fear must have kept all those other families from saying yes and moving forward with bringing our babe home.  (I am so thankful it did as she is now mine.) Mostly though, I thought about all the things that fear has kept me from doing.  I am certain that I have missed out on much as I haven't said yes to things God has called me to do as I have been paralyzed with fear.  How I long to live in a place in my life where I run to the truth of God's word.  We are not given a spirit of fear, but one of power!  We are not fragile!  In the coming months as life is settling in to a peaceful ebb and flow here, I am praying that I will not be paralyzed by fear, but I will live each day ready to say yes to the next thing God shows me to do even though it is CRAZY.     

Mall of America Trip

 Molly Kate had an appointment at Shriner's in the Twin Cities, and it was so fun to make a vacation of it with our entire family.  We hit the MOA the first night as we stayed a few minutes away.  I got a groupon for a diner type restaurant so we got to enjoy chili dogs, burgers, fries, and shakes to kick off our trip.  Anna Mei loves, loves vacations.  She was one happy girl to be on our trip.

 This girl ate like a champ in this crazy, over stimulating environment.  I used our manual chopper to puree a foot long chili dog and she ate it all!  This manual food chopper has greatly improved our quality of life as now Jillian can eat at a restaurant without packing her food from home.

 Notice the toddler harness on this one.  She is CRAZY!  She needed a harness so bad as she just never stops going, but she loved our trip.

 The girls love legos so the lego store was a great stop.  Jilly flings them like she does everything.

The littlest posed by the lego friend.

 We spent the next day at the aquarium at the MOA.  The girls absolutely loved it and we are so grateful for all the perks available to Shriner's patients in this area as the tickets were a great bargain.

 This girl is a lover of water so her aquarium experience was over the top!  She was thrilled with all the sights.

 The touch tanks were enjoyed by everyone.

Just look at this face!  She was truly happy to be here.

 I think Molly would have jumped in.

 The stingray tank was an absolute favorite!

 Jillian spent a good part of the day revisiting the stingray tank.  It was so peaceful in the dark area there watching the movement of these amazing creatures.  She would watch and watch and watch with a smile the whole time.

There were some toddler activities at the mall we enjoyed as not everyone wanted to just take up residence at the stingray tank like Jillian did.  We had a wonderful trip and Molly's appointment was awesome!  She showed herself to be truly amazing with her little hands and no surgery or treatment is recommended right now.  She uses them so well that anything we could do to alter them would put her at a disadvantage so we go back in a year. :)

Her First Birthday..

 Mere words could never, never do justice to describe the sheer joy this darling girl has added to us this year.  Celebrating her first birthday with us, as she turns three, was very memorable!

 She has watched everyone in our family have a birthday since coming home nearly a year ago so she knew what to do.  She put the candles right on her cake all by herself.

 She was beaming...BEAMING..as we sang to her.

 She positioned herself just right and blew out the candles.

 I couldn't be happier to call this amazing Molly mine.

 Then as she was eating her cake, she began to examine it under the magnifying glass.

 She cracks us up!  Happy third birthday punkin!  We love you!