Potty Talk

I think we need to buy stock in Pampers.

I've been changing diapers steadily for almost 8 years now. We are currently buying diapers in size 1, size 4, and size 5 pull-ups in pink and in blue. That's a lot of booties to wipe every day.

I've got a whole diaper changing station set up under the TV in the playroom. A child locked cabinet is complete with diapers, pull ups, baby wipes, diaper rash creams (Aquaphor and Kroger brand desitin), disposable gloves (for those random explosions and I figure the babysitters appreciate them :)), grocery bags (who needs a diaper genie when you can use grocery bags, they're free!) and a vinyl nap-mat that I pull out to lay them on because there are wood floors in there.

Of course Kate has her own changing station in the livingroom. I don't lay my 6 wk old on the floor in the playroom. ;)

But I have to say, Micah's not being changed on that nap-mat much these days. His potty training is coming along wonderfully! He really only wears one pull up a day and is keeping it dry! He goes #1 in the potty and if I make him sit there long enough he'll go #2 as well, YAY MICAH!!!!

So why do I not switch him to undies? Trust me, I'd love to go back to just having 3 in diapers. Its because (and this is SO frustrating) Micah still won't tell me when he needs to go potty. :( He knows the sign for potty, so it shouldn't be a communication issue. I just have to guess when he might need to go again, usually timing it around the time that I'm changing the little girls' diapers. And sure enough, he'll go. So he's holding it... so long as I don't forget and make him wait too long. If I randomly ask him if he needs to go, he'll say yes every time. Just for something to do. And because he loves washing his hands. *insert eye roll*

From what I understand, this is typical "time training" from the orphanage. They just took all of the kids to sit on potties at set times every day and they learned to hold it until those times. Kinda sad. If any of you adoptive moms have any tips for breaking the time-trained thing, I'm happy to hear it. I wish he would just tell me when he needs to go. :(

So the other reason I'm keeping him in pull-ups is because... I'm scared. Its just the truth. But if you ever saw what comes out of that kid if he accidentally gets milk... you'd be scared too! As long as he doesn't get dairy in his diet, we're good. But when he does, watch out. And I really don't want to clean that out of underwear. Or where ever else it might land.... ugh.

Abby on the other hand, will say "Uh oh Mommy! Pooped!!!!" This is her universal phrase for letting me know she needs to be changed. Then occasionally she'll follow it up with the signs for "wet" or "dirty". Which, as her proud mother, I think is pretty impressive. :) And she really likes sitting up on the potty if and when I take her but shes terrified if anything comes out and wants down immediately. Nevertheless, I'm confident that she's really close to being ready to potty train. At this point I'm only waiting on Mabry.

Mabry turns two this fall and the plan is to potty train Abby and Mabry together. I had hoped to do Abby this summer but ya know, having a baby and all, I've been a little busy. :) So hopefully by Christmas we will have only one more to potty train and five kids successfully using the potty!!!

Then I'm going to buy stock in Charmin.

Montage of baby Kate's first three weeks

Avery Kate has been in our family for almost a month now. :) I can't even believe it. Here are some pictures of her first three weeks of life. What a sweet little blessing she is...

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Peaceful Summer

Its time to talk about this new season. And I'm not just talking about the weather.

Kate was born on the first day of summer. June 21st. And the culmination of her birth, our new home, and the summertime has taken me into a completely new season. And oh, how to describe this new season? Its just. Peaceful. {Searching my heart...} Yep. That's it. Peace.

If you were listening at my front door it might not sound peaceful. There are still 10 little feet stomping running through the house like a heard of elephants, Electric Company blaring from the livingroom, squealing kids flying down the slide in the playroom, doors slamming as the girls come in and out from riding their bikes, the constant running of either the washing machine or dishwasher, and a baby crying because its time to nurse for the umpteenth time today. Even at night, the deafening sound of "rain" is coming from the sound machine in the upstairs hall. But despite the decibels... there is peace.

We're home.

Is it hard juggling 6 kids? Two with special needs and tiny newborn? The answer is actually no. Comical? Usually. ;) Tiring? Yes. But hard? No. Its been pretty smooth. But over and over I keep thinking, there's no way we could have done this in our old house. In this house, we all have our own space. We fit here. And everyone can feel the difference. Its wonderful. :)

And it feels so good to build new routines. I knew that between moving and having a baby this summer, I could not over commit myself. So I didn't. Which means- I have no where I have to be. And it feels great. :) We wake up, have breakfast, the kids play while I clean up/do some laundry/nurse my baby. Then we have lunch, the little ones and I nap while the girls play in their room. When everyone is up, we have snacks, play some more, have dinner, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day. With so much routine, I find myself thriving and growing as much as the kids.

I'm anticipating a smooth transition into the school year as well. While we're enjoying a peaceful summer, I know the kids will be so ready for school when it starts. And I'll be ready too. How sweet it'll be to have time alone with Mabry and Kate. I'm looking forward to lunches and shopping with my Grandmother and my mom... diving back into couponing... soaking in the Word at morning Women's Study... taking my time decorating each room of my beautiful new house... its gonna be awesome. :)

Now, understand me. I fully believe that my home is in heaven. This is temporary. Never do I want to become so comfortable and complacent that I grow stagnant, not growing in my faith or being effective for the Kingdom. I hope that I can always say that I'd give up all that I have if that's what the Lord was calling me to do. But I also know that I know that He's blessed us with this house and I'm grateful. There are seasons of refreshing and we draw from those for our times in the fire. Sometimes we stand up and fight, sometimes we lay our heads on His chest and just soak Him in. And you never know whats around the corner.

And right now I'm thoroughly enjoying this peaceful summer. Sipping some sweet tea, watching my kids play, smelling my new baby. Aaaahhh, peace. :) Thank you Lord, You're so good to me.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you."

A 7 year olds prayer

This is just too sweet not to share.

A few weeks ago Jake took the two big girls to church while I stayed home with the little ones. Ashley wanted to stay in service with him and I'm not sure what the message was about that day but at some point, she wrote this prayer out on the back of a visitor welcome card. She saved it, brought it home, showed me, I cried, and now she keeps it on our kitchen table because she likes to read/pray it before dinner. :)



Translation just in case :)
God I thank you for my Dad my Mom my sister's and brother and I thank you for my life and for my friends and family and I pray for all those that are in beds all their life without food til they die and those at the dump and at Ukraine that need to be adopted and Jesus name Amen.

The prayer for "those in beds without food" is referring to Eastern European mental institutions. She's really soaked in the reality of what Micah's life would have been like had he not been adopted and is very concerned for the other children with special needs in those countries. Seriously.

"Those at the dump" is referring to the large communities of people living at a trash dump in the Dominican Republic, where Jake was last summer. Her little heart broke when she saw his pictures of people getting all that they had from others' trash.

(And she still can't quite pronounce "adopted" yet, hence her confused spelling of it. ;))

Its so hard to read kids sometimes and I never know how much of what we teach them and share with them is actually soaking in. Until I see something like this. And I don't have to tell you how incredibly good it feels to know that something is getting through and my kids are aware of the hurting world around them. Reading my seven year olds prayer of thanks to God for her life is one of my most amazing experiences as a parent, to date. Thank you Lord for my sweet girl!!

Meet Kate

She's here!

With as much joy and pride as can fit in one mommy's heart, I'd like to announce the arrival of Miss Avery Kate Spencer born on June 21, 2011, via induction. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. And she's got a head full of dark hair!

The delivery truly could not have gone any better. The doctor that delivered her was the same doctor that delivered Ashley, one of my favorites in that practice. :) The nurses were wonderful. The day was smooth. My mom and my grandmother were in the room for the delivery which was really special. And because Jake's never been a cord-cutting kinda guy, my mom even got to cut the cord, which I'm pretty sure made her year. :)

We went in at 6am, got all set up with pitocin by 8. They broke my water soon after and a bit later did my epidural. All went totally smooth. Not long after the epidural, I was at 4 cm, then all we could do was sit back, visit with one another, and wait for my sweet baby to make her arrival. At some point, I think around 2pm, I was blissfully painless (thanks to my epidural :)) but knew from four other deliveries that the time was getting close. ;) So we called in a nurse and sure enough, 9 cm! Almost time. The great team of nurses and my awesome doctor got everything all set up, and after 3 pushes our sweet 5th baby girl entered the world. It was beautiful.

Not long after, Ashley, Emily and some of our family and friends came in to see her. The girls got to watch the nurse give her the first bath, which was cool. Our good friend Kory was able to capture some of it on his camera and put together this awesome video that we will forever treasure....

The next day, Jake brought the three little ones up to the hospital to meet her. And yes, it was a little crazy having 6 kids in that little postpartum recovery room, but I think all things considered, they did pretty good. :) Here's my very-long-much-less-glamorous video of that experience. :) I don't expect anyone to watch the whole thing, I'm mostly posting because I think the grandparents will get a kick out of it. :)

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(Disclaimers: 1.) Poor Micah had some bad experiences in hospitals before he came home and still gets really stressed when he's in one. Hence the look on his face for most of the video. 2.) Fixing little girl hair is not one of Jake's many fatherly talents, so please excuse the back of Abbys the girls' hair :))

Today is her 1 week birthday.

She's doing great, nursing great, sleeping... some... ;) and I have to say that I really feel great too. I certainly don't feel like I had a baby a week ago. For some reason I thought that each baby would be harder and harder on my body. And while each pregnancy is NO walk in the park, the postpartum time with Mabry and Kate have been much easier than I've anticipated. I kinda feel like a normal person again, and its wonderful. :)

And yes, Kate. We'd tossed around the idea of calling her Kate before she was born. When we saw that little face and as we're getting to know her little personality, she feels like a Kate. :) So baby Kate it is.

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Now that we are more settled into our new house, and now that baby Kate is here, I'm getting the first tastes of our new family rhythm. And I'm loving it. What a great new season. My heart is so thankful for the many blessings the Lord has showered (and is showering) over us.

This busy but blessed momma of six will check back in soon. Until then I hope you all are enjoying your summer!!

happy fathers day jake

im going to attempt to blog from my phone in honor of fathers day. for those who only keep up with me in blogland... yes we are finally in our new house and its amazing. yes i survived a week alone while jake had summer camp and no ive not had this baby yet. but in keeping with tradition of the last 3 an induction is planned for tuesday the 21st because this little girl is quite cozy and has decided she doesnt want to come out.

right now we still dont have internet at the house which hasnt been too bad because of our smartphones. but it is the reason for my blogging break. but lo its fathers day today and i cant pass this opportunity to brag on my amazing other half. even if for whatever reason my phone wont let me use capitalization or punctuation lol

aaaahhh jake. what can i say about this man. how can i express how truly incredible he is. jake was made for fatherhood. he has a sixth sense for it. he stepped into parenting almost 8 years ago just expecting to get his hands dirty and hasnt looked back.

sleepless nights.

a bzillion diapers.

baby food.

car seats and baby gear.

jake embraced all of it.

and did it all looking pretty hot in my opinion.

then came abby.

emotions.

confusion.

searching for answers and trying to figure out what life would look like now.

leaning wholy on the lord.

he stepped up to the plate.

supported me in all of my emotions.

loved our little girl with a fierce daddy love.

took on new challenges like they were nothing.

next challenge adoption.

a faith test in raising funds and traveling to the other side of the world.

lord knows what he went through over there. alone.

a new son.

the challenge of loving a child thats not yours by birth.

again lord knows the battles that have been faced with this um... busy little boy.

two more baby girls.

more sleepless nights.

more diapers.

meanwhile ashley and emily are leaving the baby phase and have become little girls.

naked barbies everywhere.

lip gloss.

ballet recitals.

spelling tests.

car pooling.

sisterly bickering from the back seat.

drama.

tears. lots and lots of tears.

and his job isnt over by a long shot.

hes got a house full of kids to help with math homework

teach to drive.

protect from boys.

marry off.

and two to help navigate life as adults with special needs.

and ya know based on what ive seen so far hes going to do it with amazing intuition and wisdom. a gentle loving firmness he could have only learned from his father... and heavenly father. what an incredible dad. not because of the things that have been thrown his way but because of the way he receives them. his passionate love for his kids. his determination to raise them to love the lord.

jake i love you so much and i continue to stand in amazement. im humbled and honored to parent along side you. our kids might be too little to express their gratefulness for you on fathers day but i see it in their eyes daily. you are loved. and appreciated. be blessed today. happy fathers day.