10 things. Well, 20 really.

Today is the last day of Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

No, I didn't blog about it at all until now. One year, I'd like to. I read some pretty awesome posts by friends all month.

No, I'm still not (technically). But I am going to point you to a couple of awesome posts, that I think you should read. And I'm going to post some stinkin' cute pictures of Micah and Abby next. (I tried to compile some for this post and found that there were so many cute ones, they need their own post. :)) 

These links aren't necessarily to raise awareness about Down Syndrome in and of itself. But in my humble opinion they are must reads if you have friends with children with Down Syndrome. Like myself. ;)

The first:

Ten things not to say to a parent of a child with Down Syndrome

And if you've ever said one of these things to me, its okay. Don't worry about it. You probably wouldn't even believe some of the unreal comments that people have made to me when Abby was born, when Micah was adopted and since.

If you have a child or children with DS, and have had these or other things said to you, my advice is to bite your lip and have some grace. People don't know what to say. And (usually) genuinely mean well. Try to look at their hearts and not what's coming out of their mouths.

Anyway, I love the realness of this post, and truly, I agree with every one of these ten things.

And the second post, much like the first:

Ten things TO SAY when a baby is born with Down Syndrome

Again, I love each and every point. Many of these things were said to me and it was healing for my heart. Keep this in your pocket for when a friend unexpectedly has a baby with Down Syndrome. Or any other syndrome, birth defect, or medical condition.

A big thanks to Gillian Marchenko for authoring these posts and the many others this month on her blog. She, like myself, is a pastors wife, who only births girls ;), had a bio daughter with DS and adopted another. Little Evangeline came home just weeks after Micah. Gillian was a huge support to me through email, in chat rooms, and over the phone. :)  Love ya friend.

Ashley's Children

Tonight Ashley informed me that she's going to have eleven children. And she's already named them all. ;)

She listed them twice, both times it was this same order:

Kate
Micah
Luke
Leia
Hans
Padme
Jordan
Meili
Ruby
Max
Mallory

And just for the record: The first two are (obviously) her siblings. The next four from Star Wars, her daddy's favorite movies. Jordan was the name we were going to use if we ever had a biological son. Meili a friend of hers who's adopted from China. Ruby and Max are, of course, from the show that my toddlers are obsessed with. And Mallory has been her main babysitter, for like, ever.

Anyway, I thought that was cute and kind of interesting. And needed to be recorded in history. :)

Stair steps

I've already shared this on FB, but I thought it was too fun not to share here as well.

My "Stair Step Sisters"

*Ahem.* Excuse my half naked baby. Its pretty much impossible to get a picture without someone missing clothes.

Anyway, isn't this so fun?! Almost a perfect line! And its crazy because they aren't all the same age apart at all.

Ashely and Emily are 22 months apart.

Emily and Abby are 17 months apart.

Abby and Mabry are 3 years apart.

Mabry and Kate are 20 months apart.

And yes, someone is missing. This is just the girls. :) But for the record, Micah is almost exactly Abby's height.

So I just had to share. My little stair step girlies.

As for me and my house

"No guys, we aren't gonna watch this, sorry." I walked across the room and turned off the program that was about to start.

A collective groan.

In a half baby voice, Ashley responds to all of her younger siblings, "Its okay guys, it's gonna be too scary for you. We don't believe that stuff."

Why do all of the preschool channels feel the need to show every Halloween special known to man, every year? Does Nick Jr. really need to have "Spooky word of the day"? Words like "scales" and "couldron". Are you kidding me? Ashley and Emily don't really watch TV (just movies that we own) but I shudder to think about what might be on the channels that are supposedly age-appropriate for them.

A couple nights ago, Ashley came into my bedroom sweating and shaking, wrapped up in her blanket. In a panicked whisper she said, "Mom I just had a scary dream, can I sleep with you?!" Though it wasn't a question and she didn't wait for a response as she climbed into my bed.

Half asleep, I rolled over to make room for my lanky 9 year old who's wildly curly hair spoke volumes about the kind of sleep she'd had so far.

The next morning as we made breakfast, she told me about her nightmare. I won't go into the details here, but it was seriously scary stuff. As a mom, my mind started weighing how much of her dream was from something scary she saw on TV, how much of it was spiritual warfare, and how much of it was the pizza she ate before bed.

After all the kids were fed, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for my office. I sat down, looked out my window and across the culdesac is some sort of creepy creature holding an ax surrounded by orange pumpkin lights. Behind it a demon-looking-thing with glowing eyes (which isn't that different from what Ashley described in her dream) is sitting in a rocking chair. Awesome. *eyeroll*

I. Can't. STAND. Halloween.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

My youth group when I lived in Maryland used to show those video's every year that show what halloween is really about. And since then, I just can't stomach it. And it doesn't help that it gets bigger and bigger every year.

You can't go to the grocery store, Target, or even Sweet Cici's without being confronted with something half-dead in a maze of cobwebs and spiders.

I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Psalm 23:4

Now, I love fall. I love pumpkins and indian corn and autumn leaves. Tennessee hills covered in red, orange and yellow. Chili with cornbread. Apple cider and pumpkin spice lattes. All my little girls in knit tights and boots, and Micah in his gray corduroys. Sunday afternoon football games. Field trips to Gentry's farm and the Rippavilla Corn Maze. I love harvest---everything.

But I don't have even a shred of like for halloween.

Hear me out, I do not judge those who get into it. I have friends who totally decorate, celebrate and have absolutely no problem with halloween. I love them dearly and don't think twice about it, I really don't.

But I just can't do it anymore.

Halloween makes my spirit grieve and I've got to follow my convictions.

God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7

I'm completely and utterly passing on halloween this year. I should say, "again this year" because we didn't do anything for halloween last year either.

This year, a couple of my girlfriends and I are getting our families together for our 2nd annual "Faith over Fear" night. Basically a celebration of God's autumn handiwork mixed with lots of scriptures on faith and fear. We'll have a treasure hunt, make some s'mores, maybe a make-shift tractor/hay ride, share some chili and homemade goodies. And, no, the kids won't be dressing up.

The treasure hunt was a scavenger-hunt style, with scriptures on faith and fear, leading them around the property til they got to a big treasure chest with candy for all the children.

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the LORD is his treasure. Isaiah 33:5-6

And like last year, Jake will do the "Pumpkin Patch Parable" for all the kids. Where he takes a big pumpkin and tells them that God chose each one of them. He picked us out and dusted us off. God opens up our hearts and cleans out all of the yucky stuff inside. He puts a smile on our faces. And then He fills us with His light. And we shine with His love, for all the world to see.

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

The kids loved it last year and are already asking if we can do it again.

I can't wait myself. :)

But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Mark 4:40

"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12b

Mommy fail

I'm starting to think that Spirit Week is some sort of cruel test for busy parents.

I can hear some school board meeting somewhere, "Lets have a week, once a year, where parents have to find all sorts of different costumes... just to make mornings that much harder!" *evil laugh* "And lets do a different thing each day to really confuse them!" *whole group joins in evil laughter*

Ok, well, maybe its not that mean spirited.

But if you have an early elementary kid... or 4... and toddlers/preschoolers... it feels like a cruel test.

One that failed this week.

Somehow, late last night as I went to bed, I realized I was off a day this week. Wednesday I dressed Abby in "Crazy" clothes for "School Spirit" day, and on Tuesday I dressed her in pajamas for "Crazy" day. Monday was the real "Pajama" day and I don't have the foggiest idea what she wore, but I can tell you that it was normal school clothes. How did I miss that? Why did I think Tuesday was Monday?

Major mommy fail.

The good news is that Abby probably didn't care at all, but just had fun wearing strange things to school.

Yesterday there was no school, and today was "Hippie" day. But I gave up. For several reasons- We were all out of whack on Spirit week anyway, Abby doesn't know what a Hippie is (nor could I ever explain that to her), and we don't have any hippie clothes. And I'm revolting against spirit week because I'm embarrassed.

I'm not sure why Micah's class didn't participate in Spirit week. Or maybe they did and I totally missed the memo. But its always better to err on the side of wearing normal clothes than to send your kid to school in a big red tutu with snake-skin leggings and a Cherry Coke t-shirt on School Spirit day. *eyeroll*

Sigh.

Thankfully Ashley and Emily can take care of their own costumes for their Spirit week.

For those who, for whatever reason, seem to marvel at our family and ask me in amazement, "How do you do it?" Well... apparently, sometimes, I don't.

Happy Birthday Mabry Ruth

Yesterday Miss Mabry turned a whole three years old. Sweet little sunshiny girl. She is so full of life and love.

She started ballet this past week is so excited about it.

Its been so sweet being able to spend more time with just her and Kate during the day while the bigger kids are all in school. If you ask her why she's not in school, she'll tilt her head and in that sweet little voice of hers say, "Cuz I too widdle." :)

You stay "widdle" just as long as you want. I love you baby girl. Happy Birthday.

Peanut Butter

No, this post isn't about the banana bread I made a couple days ago. Its about my baby.

Let me back up a bit.

Each of my kids have a special nickname that I gave them when they were just tiny. (In Micah's case, right after he came home.)

Ashley's nickname is Sweet Pea. I'm not even sure how it started. Probably because I remember my mom calling me that. Whatever the reason, it stuck.

Emily is Peanut. Mostly because she was so tiny. Emily was (and still is) one of my smallest, percentile-wise. My little Peanut.

Abby was a November baby and quickly became Pumpkin. She had these sweet, round cheeks and Pumpkin (Really more pronounced "Pun'kin") was just the perfect nickname for her.

At this point I realized they all started (or sort of started) with a P.

When Micah came home, I didn't have a P name that fit. He was (and is) just Buddy, Bud or sometimes Bug. I figured if we every had another boy, we'd give him a B nickname and leave P for the girls.

Mabry quickly became Princess. A name she fits to the T. Er... P. :)

While pregnant with Kate, Ashley and Emily asked me what nickname I was going to call her. I said that I wasn't sure, but it would be fun if it started with a P as well. And Ashley voted that Peaches would be a sweet nickname. I agreed. So, since she was born, I've tried to make Peaches fit. But it never comes naturally. This isn't some huge, overly sentimental issue to me, more of a coincidence really, so if she didn't have a P nickname, it wasn't the end of the world to me.

But then it came to me.

And being my very chunkiest baby (again, percentile-wise), it fits her so well.

Peanut Butter.

Yes, its close to Emily's nickname, Peanut. But it fits Kate so well.

Sweet, chunky, Peanut Butter. That's Kate. :)

Show me Your ways Lord

Hello, little blog, I promise I haven't forgotten you.

Life has been so busy...

September was packed month. Our family took a much needed one week vacation in Florida. I use the word "vacation" loosely but it was a fun family trip. ;) After that my mom-in-law came in town and we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law who's having her first girl. Also, our very dear friend Kory's wedding was in September, complete with all the wedding festivities: bridal shower, lingerie shower, tool shower, rehearsal, etc, etc, etc. We had some close friends stay with us while they were in town over wedding weekend, which was fun. I also had a couple of events to decorate for. (I think I've mentioned it before, but I do some event decorating for the church and for friends). And actually Kory's wedding was one of those events. We wrapped the month up with a big presentation that Ashley and Emily had at school, in which they both did awesome.

Then there's our weekly home-group, weekly women's Bible study, and bi-weekly adoption group.

And all of this in addition to the daily grind of diapers, laundry, dishes, packed lunches, homework, housecleaning, buying groceries, paying bills and other glorious tasks.

*sigh*

But there's this ever present nudge. Calling me to slow down.

At the risk of sounding overly poetic, the cooler weather always seems to blow a fresh perspective over my life. It beckons me to take deep breaths. To look around and be thankful. It makes me want to slow down. Its almost as if the Creator of the autumn breezes knows whats best for me. ;)

Some things you just can't. Its not as if I can tell my kids that we're giving up evening homework for the week so Mommy can slow down. Its not as if I can just bail out on grocery shopping or laundry or going to our best friends' wedding. Things like Women's study and small group are actually things that refuel me, so I couldn't and wouldn't let those go.

But some things....

I recently made a list. Of all the things that take up time on my calendar. Every. Little. Thing. I needed to evaluate and purge. Its not an easy task, but it had to be done. I'm taking a good look at my weeks and organizing them the way a good homemaker should, with the help of an amazing book "Large Family Logistics" (which I'm sure I've referenced before).

~Monday is Cleaning Day
~Tuesday is Laundry Day
~Wednesday is Town Day (don't laugh, I know it sounds very Little House on the Prairie, but don't know what else to call it)
~Thursday is Kitchen Day
~Friday is Office Day

I've got my schedule all written up. With room to breathe. Room for life. And room to do the things around my house that make life sweeter when I push up my sleeves and attend to. If you've ever seen the program Microsoft One Note, its perfect for my new Home Management Book. I've got a tab for each day, complete with meal plans, to do lists, housecleaning schedules, and links to recipes, etc. I've also got tabs for our family budget, the kids' school stuff, grocery and shopping lists, weekend projects, and all things medical.

Today is Kitchen Day and I baked a loaf of Reeces peanut butter cup banana bread. Next I'm making granola bars, pre-baking some meatballs for dinner, and then hopefully a batch of my laundry detergent.

And because I've kept up with all my other "days" this week (and I'm ignoring the pile of mail and emails until "Office Day" tomorrow), today I can open my windows, crank up Pandora, and bake my little heart out. Right now Kate is taking her morning nap and Mabry is hosting a babydoll teaparty while she runs into the kitchen periodically with me to lick spoons.

Life is so sweet when its slow.

~~~

That's not all though. There's more on my heart.

Not only is God calling me to slow down, He's calling me deeper. In actuality, I believe He's always calling me to both, but right now, I'm listening.

"Do you really know how much I love you? And do you live like you know it?"
"Will you obey Me at any cost?"
"I have such great things in store for you if you'll follow me deeper."

He's stirring my heart. I don't know where He's going to take me but I know that's where I want to be. I want to chase Him with reckless abandon. I want to give up all the things of this world to know Him more. I want to focus my eyes on Him and not on the fleeting things of this world.

The pot is stirred. There's no going back.

God thank you for guiding me. Give me wisdom, boldness and discernment to do that which You've called me to do, and only that which You've called me to do.

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
Proverbs 14:1

A mans heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9


Show me your ways Lord, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation, on You I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:4-5