World Aids Day

Here is an article on how HIV is affecting orphaned children in China. Very sad and please pray for everyone, effected by this disease.

Giving Back

This year, the Lucky Mommy's decided that we would start to teach our kids about the true gift of Christmas which is giving back to those less fortunate than we are. Here in SoCal, especially in Orange County, there is a lot of materialism involved. Having been born and raised here, I have seen my fair share of people who have the fake boobs, lips, newest gadgets, etc. Yes I drive an SUV and have a Blackberry but my parents taught me about compassion and I could care less about what size my jeans are.

One of our mommy's, Karen, told us about a really great program called Operation Christmas Child. With this program you get a shoebox from them and then fill it with anything you want. You can then pay the $7 for shipping and track your box to its destination. If you choose, you can include a picture and your address and sometimes the kids write back! Some of the boxes stay in the US and also go all over the world. For some of these kids, this is the only Christmas present that they will receive. We had a girl from Jordan come speak at our church and tell us how much her box meant to her. She is an adult now but still has some of the items from the box she received. Her story gave me the chills. It's not too late to donate a box. You can click on the link above or the picture in my sidebar.

The Lucky Mommys met last week and we took the kids shopping. It was a very moving experience and a wonderful tradition that we will do year after year.

We walked through the mall to get to get to the store and Santa was there. He was so kind and gave all the kids candy canes.

Getting ready to shop! From left to right, Kailee, Gracie, Becky and Ryan. I had to add this picture because Kailee and Gracie look so forlorn.

The kids proudly displaying their boxes

Michelle (blonde) and Karen filling up their boxes

Karen filling her box with Gracie and Becky hanging on for dear life!

Ryan was very proud of the items that he got!

Thanksgiving Day

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Ours was a quiet small one. For some reason, I was a little bit sad today and not sure why. This year, I decided to try cooking the turkey and being the total control freak that I am, I had to do all my research on turkeys, so mine would turn out perfectly. I watched Martha, Rachael, Emeril, and all those famous cooks who don't use last names because they don't have to. One said to brine, one said no stuffing, yes tie the legs, no you don't, ahhhhh! My head was going to exploid with all the information given. I finally decided to go to my trusty website, allrecipes and found some good info. on there and followed that. At the last moment, I was calling up Bed, Bath and Beyond to see if they carried brining bags because I just HAD to brine my turkey as everyone raved that it would be moist if I did.

So last night had Jerry and I, almost in a comical situation, attempting to get the turkey in the brining bag without all the water spilling out and then realizing that we didn't have enough room in the fridge so out came the cooler and Jerry had to run to the store for ice but we finally got that darn turkey into the cooler and brined. This morning was even more funny while I read the directions to Jerry on how and where to insert that darn thermometer. We finally figured it out with a little help from a google image picture.

The turkey turned out great even though it doesn't look so in the picture below and everything else was yummy too! I already have plans for next year's turkey. :)

Even though you can't tell what it is, Gracie made this turkey in ceramic's class

Having a blast as usual, with Uncle Peter

Gracie loves Grandpa

The turkey looks kind of gross in this picture

Yay, a picture with me in it!

Gracie enjoying my homemade pumpkin pie

Who else would crawl under the table but Uncle Peter?

Poor Gracie didn't have a nap today and was so exhausted halfway through dinner, that she went to her room and this is how I found her asleep!

Sad News

Last Friday, Jerry and I visited a pediatric neurologist to go over Brennan's medical tests. The neurologist was very honest and straighforward with us and we found out that Brennan has a very serious medical condition along with another possible serious lifelong underlying condition. For these reasons, we are not going to be able to continue with Brennan's adoption. For the privacy of Brennan, I have pulled his blog and am not going to list what his medical needs are. Our agency said that he will be put on the special needs waiting child list where a family who has experience with his condition and possibly the other one will be able to adopt him.

I have prayed a lot about this decision as it was a very difficult one. I had asked God to give us a clear answer on what to do and He did. Our family is doing okay and we know that we will get through this. We are back on the list for a new referral but I have not yet decided if I am going to post any information when we do get a referral, until after the baby is home.

Thank you to all who have said prayers for Brennan and for us. I ask you to continue to pray for him and his health.

3 Year Check-Up

Gracie had her 3 year doctor's appointment today. She is doing great and is 38.5" tall and weighs 34 pounds. I think she's a little taller because she was kind of scrunched down and is the same height as her friend B. who was 39" at her doctor's appointment. The doctor said Gracie is very verbal which we all know (takes after Grandma :)) and healthy, yay! Gracie did get two shots today and was not happy with me at all! She kept asking for Daddy who had to leave a meeting and call Gracie so she would feel better which she did after talking to him. My peditrician was very patient and answered all types of questions that I had regarding Brennan and as soon as I get results and hard copies of those, I will be taking them to the neurologist that Gracie's doctor reccommended.

I can't believe that Gracie is growing so quickly and is already 3. She is a smart, funny, girl with an outgoing personality. She remembers everything and unfortunately, is sometimes a parrot! Gracie loves to draw and build things with Legos and blocks. She also loves to sing. Gracie is very compassionate and intiutive and likes to make sure that everyone is okay. In the picture below, Gracie was showing me her vampire fangs that she made out of an apple. She had bit out the center of the apple and then turned it around so it was sticking out like fangs and said "vampire" and hissed. She learned about the vampire part from one of her favorite shows, "Max and Ruby" but gets very creative with her fangs.

Pumpkin Carving

Last night we carved our first pumpkin or rather Jerry carved Gracie's first pumpkin. We haven't done it the last couple of years since Gracie was too young to really know what was going on but now that she is 3, she gets it and was super excited. Gracie had already picked out the pumpkin carving kit from Walmart and told Jerry that she wanted the skeleton pattern. She has this thing about skeletons and loves them! Jerry opened the pumpkin and when he asked Gracie if she wanted to help clean out the pumpkin, Gracie took one look at the guts and freaked out. She wouldn't even touch them when they were outside of the pumpkin! We finally coaxed her to help with the seeds and she even attempted to scrape out the pumpkin but her little hand barely went inside. The best part of the night for her, was eating the roasted pumpkin seeds which she loved. A girl after my own ♥ !

Happy Halloween!!

I love this picture!

Gracie and her BFF Becky at the Halloween concert last week

So excited to carve the pumpkin

Intently watching Jerry

Freaking out when it was time to clean out the guts

Helping with the seeds

" Helping" Daddy scrape the pumpkin. That's as far as her hand got into the pumpkin's insides.

In case you can't tell, it's a skeleton

The best part, the seeds!

Some Not so Good News

I wasn't sure if I was going to post anything but after reading a wonderful blog from someone who went through the same situation, I decided to go ahead. Today, we received some devastating news from Korea regarding Brennan's medical situation. While I don't feel like going into specifics at this time as we don't have all of the medical testing, I can say that Brennan has gone from being a healthy little boy, to needing an MRI to find out how serious his medical situation is. I have had every emotion there can be today and right now am trying to let go and let God. Jerry and I have no control over what is going on right now and I have to know that it is truly out of our hands and into God's. Brennan will have his MRI on the 10th of November and if you can keep him in your prayers please, that would be wonderful. After that date, we should have more information and where to proceed from there.

I borrowed the follow from the blog I was telling you about and it has really helped me put things into perspective:

From Anxiety to Peace

Remind Yourself That God Is In Control: When you convince yourself that your world is out of control, you are on the verge of paralysis. Watch your self-talk. Are you saying to yourself: “God is in control of this circumstance, He is my Father, and He is ruling this for my benefit”?

Accept Confusion: Believing in God’s sovereignty doesn’t mean life will make sense. Believing in God’s sovereignty is needed because life doesn’t make sense. Your rest is not in figuring out your circumstances–your rest is in the God behind the circumstances.

Don’t Allow Emotions To Rule: As much as the emotions you experience will be right, good, and appropriate, don’t let them set the agenda. There is a temptation to do that, but allowing yourself to be pulled away by the emotions of the moment could cause you to regret your decisions later.

Distinguish Needs From Wants: Be very careful what you put in your catalog of “need.” The minute you tell yourself something is a need, you’re saying it is essential for life. Then you are going to determine that you can’t live without it. It’s easy to attach yourself and your sense of security to the gift rather than to the Giver.

Know Your Job Description: God promises to provide. Your job is to live the way God has called you to live. Instead of giving way to discouragement, look for ways you can contribute to God’s people at the moment.

Run To God, Not Away From Him: God’s promise to us is not first the relief of the suffering–His promise is to give us Himself. He will never turn a deaf ear to the natural cries of a person of faith when life doesn’t make sense. God hears and answers and works and comforts.

-Summarized by Tullian Tchividjian (via Susan Fiske) Taken from Paul Tripp’s six actions steps for combating anxiety.