Thanks to all my faithful family and friends who continue to check my blog for updates on our family happenings despite the fact that my postings seem to come in random waves. Life inside this house is (at best) constantly busy and its been difficult for me to connect with people in real life much less online. Many of my closest friends know that I tend to fall off the planet for days or even weeks at a time... blogworld is no different. :)
But I felt I should update on Christmas... considering this was the first Christmas for two Spencer members. A very special year indeed. This Christmas was a crazy whirlwind of school and church plays, parties, baking, shopping and keeping busy little hands off of breakable shiny ornaments.
Ashley was in her first school Christmas play and it couldn't have been more appropriate that it was the play "Babushka" (having added a little Ukrainian man this year) about a little Russian woman who learns that Christmas isn't about giving gifts, but giving of yourself for Jesus. Ashley was one of 5 beauitul Angels singing "Glory, Glory, Glory to God in the highest and peace, goodwill to men". She didn't miss a single handmotion and belted out every word. It was a far cry from the shy little 3 year old who cried and cried before her big ballet recital. She's growing up so much. I was one proud momma.
She also sang in the church Christmas play with all of the other preK-5th graders. She was a sweet little sheep and the costume was adorable if I do say so myself. :) After two nights of that performance, Ashley informed me "For all the songs I didn't know the words to, I just opened my mouth really big like I was singing along." :) Hey that works.
Emily's Christmas program was at the church where she goes to Mothers Day Out and it was beautiful. All of the little ones came in from the back of the sanctuary and up through the pews to the stage. And of course Emily was waving to the crowd as she passed as if she was some prom queen on a float. It was hilarious! She sang her songs and after it was over, our whole family siezed the moment to catch a picture with baby Jesus up on the stage. Some how that was the first picture we've all gotten together since we were at the hospital with Mabry!
My dad and Margie came in town the weekend before Christmas and we had lots of fun with them... the kids love Grandma and Grandpa Turner. And love their dogs Molly and Lucy too!! They were able to come to see Ashley in her church play which was cool. It was a great visit but as always, over too quickly.
We got up on Christmas Eve morning to "have Christmas" with our kids. Jake and I thoroughly enjoyed watching each of them tear into the presents that we'd been told they wanted for weeks. It only took one gift for Micah to realize, hey, these packages have TOYS in them! And he was INTO it! It was one of those adoption moments when you can't help but tear up thinking about where he would have been today... or what he would have been doing... and the fact that he's never done this before... and the fact that he'll get to do this every year from now on. To see him light up over the giant noisy robot. And the smile on his face as he'd watch his sisters squeel at opening their own gifts. I'll never ever forget it.
Abby this year still didn't grasp the concept of opening up presents. Or maybe she didn't care. The girls had to open some of her gifts up for her and kind of get her excited over what she got. She would have been perfectly happy with the first toy... to play with it never open anything else. She enjoyed watching the chaos around her and rocking her baby dolls. Sweet girl.
We then packed up all the kids, lots more unopened gifts, and lots of food and headed to my moms house. After some cooking and a big yummy mexican feast, Mom, Dad, Grannie, Papaw, Shane, Colby, Jake, the kids and I all "did gifts" with each other. Then we packed up again and headed to a cabin that Jake's parents rented to spend Christmas day with Mom and Dad Spencer, John, Jo, Hannah, Nathan (better known as Nate Dogg by my kids), Jackson and Graham. The cabin was beautiful and it was a fun little get away.
And now we're headed into the new year and I don't even know where this one went. What a crazy year of pregnancy, international adoption, 3 kids starting school for the first time and oh so much more. And I'm not gonna lie... I'm tired. This year has taken a lot out of me. But every now and again when every thing is still and quiet... I take a deep breath, step back and look, and praise my God because I am one very blessed woman.
I made a little montage for Christmas. Some of these pictures are kind of random and I forgot my camera when we went to the cabin... but here's a few shots from this Christmas time.
Love you all. I hope you each had a wonderful celebration of Jesus' birth.
Elf Yourself
I can think of about a hundred and nine things I should be doing right now, but what the heck... sometimes ya gotta stop and have some fun!!!
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Just have to share
**Update: My friend wasn't able to see Oleg because all of the younger children were in quarantine because of flu season I'm assuming. But the monastery sounds beautiful and the children really well taken care of and happy. :) Emily asked me again randomly the other night if Oleg was happy with his new family. I told her I wasn't sure but that it sounds like a great place and we prayed that God would take care of him and give him joy in his heart. Let it be so, Lord.**
First let me say that my flooring is done which calls for a great big WHOO HOO!! :) And it looks awesome. This great guy from our church put it in and we couldn't be more blessed. Now on to the painting. :)
But I just have to share this: While I was at the church yesterday, I got an email (actually it was comment that I didn't publish for confidentiality reasons) that stopped me completely in my tracks. (For those who don't know our whole adoption story from the beginning... or about the little boy Oleg whom we didn't end up adopting, you probably need to go read my adoption blog for this to make any sense.)
It was from a RR friend who is in Ukraine right now adopting her little angel. She said that she's been invited to go and visit a monastery. A monk there has been bringing in orphans (over 200) from all over Ukraine, some with special needs, some without. Well, she's using the same facilitator that Jake and I did, Yulia, and she told her that this is where our Oleg was transferred!! She's going to be there tomorrow and there is a chance that she might see him. Just the thought makes me cry.
I'm so overwhelmed by this information... I don't even know where to begin. For one thing, we didn't fully understand where he was going or why. Or how he was chosen. Or what it would be like for him. So to hear more about it is... I don't know how to describe it. I guess its kinda like sending your child off to boarding school against your own will and finally getting to hear what its like there. And for another thing, I really didn't think that we would ever again hear about him and never dreamed we would talk to someone who might actually run into him or (dare I get my hopes up?) take a picture!
I know its foolishness to the world... but Oleg will always be my little boy in my heart. (Prepare yourself for Amy's heart in the raw.) I fully know that the way things ended up were God's will. I KNOW that God called us to adopt both of them. And at the same time I know that it was God's will for us to not get him. Some might ask- "So what happened? Did God change His mind? Or make a mistake? How was it His will to adopt Oleg and then to not?" Because ultimately His will was obedience alone. He was calling us to obey. To walk forward. And we did. And now our family looks exactly like He knew it would. But I believe that the keeper of my heart knows that I fell in love with that little boy when He told me to go get him.
For some adoptive families a situation... a child... falls through and its SO incredibly hard. And for many (I'm mostly speaking of RR situations that I've seen or heard of) that child will be adopted by another family. And I can't imagine how hard that must be. But for me... to know that he's in another situation very like the orphanage (granted probably far more caring) but with out a mommy to hold him and love him... hurts me.
God has a plan for Oleg. I don't know what it is. But when I get to heaven, I'm going to see him. And I'm going to tell him that even though he didn't have a mommy to wrap her arms around him, there was a mommy loving him... and praying for him from the time that he was little. He was LOVED. In my heart I'll always be his mommy and he'll always be my son.
Tomorrow is the day that she will be there. I pray that she does see him. And I'm trusting that he's doing wonderfully there.
First let me say that my flooring is done which calls for a great big WHOO HOO!! :) And it looks awesome. This great guy from our church put it in and we couldn't be more blessed. Now on to the painting. :)
But I just have to share this: While I was at the church yesterday, I got an email (actually it was comment that I didn't publish for confidentiality reasons) that stopped me completely in my tracks. (For those who don't know our whole adoption story from the beginning... or about the little boy Oleg whom we didn't end up adopting, you probably need to go read my adoption blog for this to make any sense.)
It was from a RR friend who is in Ukraine right now adopting her little angel. She said that she's been invited to go and visit a monastery. A monk there has been bringing in orphans (over 200) from all over Ukraine, some with special needs, some without. Well, she's using the same facilitator that Jake and I did, Yulia, and she told her that this is where our Oleg was transferred!! She's going to be there tomorrow and there is a chance that she might see him. Just the thought makes me cry.
I'm so overwhelmed by this information... I don't even know where to begin. For one thing, we didn't fully understand where he was going or why. Or how he was chosen. Or what it would be like for him. So to hear more about it is... I don't know how to describe it. I guess its kinda like sending your child off to boarding school against your own will and finally getting to hear what its like there. And for another thing, I really didn't think that we would ever again hear about him and never dreamed we would talk to someone who might actually run into him or (dare I get my hopes up?) take a picture!
I know its foolishness to the world... but Oleg will always be my little boy in my heart. (Prepare yourself for Amy's heart in the raw.) I fully know that the way things ended up were God's will. I KNOW that God called us to adopt both of them. And at the same time I know that it was God's will for us to not get him. Some might ask- "So what happened? Did God change His mind? Or make a mistake? How was it His will to adopt Oleg and then to not?" Because ultimately His will was obedience alone. He was calling us to obey. To walk forward. And we did. And now our family looks exactly like He knew it would. But I believe that the keeper of my heart knows that I fell in love with that little boy when He told me to go get him.
For some adoptive families a situation... a child... falls through and its SO incredibly hard. And for many (I'm mostly speaking of RR situations that I've seen or heard of) that child will be adopted by another family. And I can't imagine how hard that must be. But for me... to know that he's in another situation very like the orphanage (granted probably far more caring) but with out a mommy to hold him and love him... hurts me.
God has a plan for Oleg. I don't know what it is. But when I get to heaven, I'm going to see him. And I'm going to tell him that even though he didn't have a mommy to wrap her arms around him, there was a mommy loving him... and praying for him from the time that he was little. He was LOVED. In my heart I'll always be his mommy and he'll always be my son.
Tomorrow is the day that she will be there. I pray that she does see him. And I'm trusting that he's doing wonderfully there.
Homeless
Lol, these post titles sound so pathetic! But its kinda true... for today anyway.
I'm typing this from a nursery room at our church. The "flooring guys" are at our house right now putting in new carpet and laminate in about 90% of our house. Which means we can't be there all day. It also means we got up at the crack of dawn to empty all three bedrooms and all three closets into the pod. I gathered, boxed, and handed my husband all of our belongings and furniture so that he could make trips from the house to the pod in the 19 degree-frost-hardened-grass-sun-not-even-up-yet weather. And this is all two days after a bunch of our friends came to our rescue when the living room, hall, and closets needed to be emptied so THAT floor could be done (which wasn't and its still like that... nevermind).
Anyway we packed up the kids, took Ashley to school, and now we're just hangin' out. Praise the Lord Jake was off work today anyway. (And yes, I made a well deserved stop through Starbucks.)
Just a few more days of this... my house will be put back together... we'll have Christmas... and HOPEFULLY our house will sell soon. Oh yeah and somewhere in there we have to find a new home. Hm.
I think after naptime we'll have a "Tour de McDonalds Playlands".
I'm typing this from a nursery room at our church. The "flooring guys" are at our house right now putting in new carpet and laminate in about 90% of our house. Which means we can't be there all day. It also means we got up at the crack of dawn to empty all three bedrooms and all three closets into the pod. I gathered, boxed, and handed my husband all of our belongings and furniture so that he could make trips from the house to the pod in the 19 degree-frost-hardened-grass-sun-not-even-up-yet weather. And this is all two days after a bunch of our friends came to our rescue when the living room, hall, and closets needed to be emptied so THAT floor could be done (which wasn't and its still like that... nevermind).
Anyway we packed up the kids, took Ashley to school, and now we're just hangin' out. Praise the Lord Jake was off work today anyway. (And yes, I made a well deserved stop through Starbucks.)
Just a few more days of this... my house will be put back together... we'll have Christmas... and HOPEFULLY our house will sell soon. Oh yeah and somewhere in there we have to find a new home. Hm.
I think after naptime we'll have a "Tour de McDonalds Playlands".
**I'm under construction**
Actually my house is. But it feels like I am. I know its been a while since I've updated my blog but we've had a few things going on.
Most of you know by now that we've decided to put our house on the market. We've done what we could to make this house work but when it comes down to it, its really just too small. We need more space to play, more space for storage, more space to function. While I can appreciate the fact that a smaller house means less to clean--I'm willing to clean more if it means I can walk across the floor without breaking my neck falling over kids toys... or kids...
So last week we started to look at what needs to be done to "stage" the house to sell it. And first things on the list? Replacing the flooring, painting the walls, putting in landscaping, putting in a driveway... ok I'm already tired and thats not even the whole list.
We DECIDED to sell the house and find something bigger... we could have ADDED-ON to the house but figured it would be difficult to live in a construction zone with 5 small children. Yet here we are... my living room and hallway floor are ripped up, our furnature is sitting on sub-flooring, one of the living room walls is painted in a lovely shade of "Kilz" to cover the accent shade I had painted last summer, my kitchen table is shoved into a corner to make room for excess furnature, paint cans are everywhere, my brother-in-law's massive saw... thingy... is on the front porch, I have no idea where my kids' backpacks are buried, and I can't get to my desk, my computer, or any of my bills (hope none of them are due...). SOOO aren't we glad we decided to move instead of add on?? :) Oh well.
That all wouldn't be SUCH a big deal except add to it that Micah's *cough cough* "intestinal" issues are getting worse, Mabry's internal nursing clock seems to be stuck at 2:45am, I still have a ton of Christmas shopping... and wrapping... to do, and to top it all off... my coffee maker AND dishwasher are broken. I kid you not. BUT, ya know. I can keep using my hubbys laptop to check my email. I'll make a doctors appointment for Micah. I'll suck it up and feed Mabry at 2:45 (sleep is over-rated anyway). I'll take my kids Christmas shopping WITH me (at the risk of looking like a freak show). I'll keep the house well stocked of paper plates and cups. And I'll go visit starbucks. A LOT. :) As for my house... I keep telling myself this will be over soon and that it'll be worth it.
I can do this. After all, I AM super mom. Or maybe just an under-caffinated, sleep-deprived mother of five running on... strength from the Lord alone.
"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" Phil. 1:6
Most of you know by now that we've decided to put our house on the market. We've done what we could to make this house work but when it comes down to it, its really just too small. We need more space to play, more space for storage, more space to function. While I can appreciate the fact that a smaller house means less to clean--I'm willing to clean more if it means I can walk across the floor without breaking my neck falling over kids toys... or kids...
So last week we started to look at what needs to be done to "stage" the house to sell it. And first things on the list? Replacing the flooring, painting the walls, putting in landscaping, putting in a driveway... ok I'm already tired and thats not even the whole list.
We DECIDED to sell the house and find something bigger... we could have ADDED-ON to the house but figured it would be difficult to live in a construction zone with 5 small children. Yet here we are... my living room and hallway floor are ripped up, our furnature is sitting on sub-flooring, one of the living room walls is painted in a lovely shade of "Kilz" to cover the accent shade I had painted last summer, my kitchen table is shoved into a corner to make room for excess furnature, paint cans are everywhere, my brother-in-law's massive saw... thingy... is on the front porch, I have no idea where my kids' backpacks are buried, and I can't get to my desk, my computer, or any of my bills (hope none of them are due...). SOOO aren't we glad we decided to move instead of add on?? :) Oh well.
That all wouldn't be SUCH a big deal except add to it that Micah's *cough cough* "intestinal" issues are getting worse, Mabry's internal nursing clock seems to be stuck at 2:45am, I still have a ton of Christmas shopping... and wrapping... to do, and to top it all off... my coffee maker AND dishwasher are broken. I kid you not. BUT, ya know. I can keep using my hubbys laptop to check my email. I'll make a doctors appointment for Micah. I'll suck it up and feed Mabry at 2:45 (sleep is over-rated anyway). I'll take my kids Christmas shopping WITH me (at the risk of looking like a freak show). I'll keep the house well stocked of paper plates and cups. And I'll go visit starbucks. A LOT. :) As for my house... I keep telling myself this will be over soon and that it'll be worth it.
I can do this. After all, I AM super mom. Or maybe just an under-caffinated, sleep-deprived mother of five running on... strength from the Lord alone.
"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" Phil. 1:6
Set your Tivo...
I mentioned on my blog a while back about a friend who was going to be featured on a "special" on TLC... then it got postponed for whatever reason.
Anyway, its back on schedule for TOMORROW NIGHT on Discovery Health. Here's the info below or you can click here to see the post on Renee's blog.
WHAT: Truth Be Told - I have a child with Special Needs
When: December 2, 2009 9PM/8PM central
Where: Discovery Health Channel
Anyway, its back on schedule for TOMORROW NIGHT on Discovery Health. Here's the info below or you can click here to see the post on Renee's blog.
WHAT: Truth Be Told - I have a child with Special Needs
When: December 2, 2009 9PM/8PM central
Where: Discovery Health Channel
Go set your Tivo... DON'T miss it!!!
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