Life Change

As many of you know, Andrew is no longer working at Turning Point Church. It's not a negative. In fact we love Turning Point and highly recommend that people go there. It's just a new phase of life. Of course, with any change, there's a feeling of loss and saddness. However, Pastor Mike has taught us that the best is yet to come and we are standing firm to that.
So Andrew is on the job hunt. He's talented and I know he will find something.
I just wanted everyone to know and to be praying for our peace that this is the right decision.

Oh, and we are going to sign the final adoption paperwork tomorrow at 2:30!!! The lawyer said our court date will be within 30 days after that SHE'LL BE A POPE!!!!

A Really Big Sand Box

The Wild Wild West!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95360&l=2e9e4&id=536945594

I'm too tired to talk about all the fun we had, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

ARIZONA

Here we come!

One Year Check Up

We had quite an eventful day yesterday. Josie had her one year check up and she is perfectly healthy. She is about 27 inches (I forgot to write down the exact measurement) and is only 19 lbs. She's petite, but in the normal height and weight range for a 12 month old. The poor thing had to have 5, yes 5, shots and get her blood drawn. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. She did not understand why I was letting that lady hurt her! But the nurse went really fast and Josie was fine once the nurse left the room.
The doctor ordered some lab tests to recheck her calcium levels since they haven't been checked since the other family took her to the hospital. We'll do that sometime next week. Other then that, everything was fine!
After that we picked up Andrew and headed over to DFCS to sign the adoption paperwork! Everything is now moving. We should hear from the lawyer sometime this week and T said we'd have our courtdate by the end of the month! We thought it would be April before we actually got to finalize so we are super excited that it's moving so fast!
We got a temporary birth certificate stating her name as Josie Pope! We are so close to it being official now!
Then we went up to the church and worked on the Kid Friends material. On the way home we were trying to decide if it would be cheaper to eat out or buy some groceries for the next couple days. Since we are leaving for 9 days tomorrow we weren't sure. But we decided to stick to our budget and go get some groceries. Well, when we got out of the store, we discovered that we had locked the keys in the car. 1/2 an hour and $55 later, we decided that it would have been a lot cheaper to just eat out!
We leave tomorrow!!!! I can't wait!!!! I've been really stressed lately so the time away with family is very much needed.

The Boys

Ever since we started to do foster care we have heard lots of reasons why people don't step up to help these kids that need a home. No time, no room, no money, too busy, too lazy, all the kids have issues, I'd get too attached. You name it, we've heard it. No matter what the excuse, it doesn't change the fact that these kids need a place to stay, a person to hug them, a reason to have hope. The problem is big, too big for one person to fix. But if 1/2 the families I know would take in one child, even if it was just temporary, it would make a huge impact. No matter what your situation or the level of comittment you can offer, DFCS has a child that would fit your life.
Ever since T placed Josie in my hands, the realization of what her life could have turned out like is a constant reminder of the fact that I have to die to selfishness and remember the kids that so many of us have forgotten. There's no doubt that people don't want to think about the kids that are abandoned or abused, but they are out there whether you acknowledge them or not.
So it's my personal mission to inspire others to open their hearts and homes to these orphans.
And just to prove that there is nothing wrong with these children, here are a couple pictures of the kids that have entered our hearts through foster care. All perfectly healthy, lovable, and sweet.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Our little ladybug is officially one year old! We are going to take her picture every year on her birthday by this wall so we can watch her grow!She was still a little sleepy when we took this! She is spending the day with her Nana and tomorrow I will be off. We have to go get a ton of shots for her 12 month check up in the morning which will be sad, but then we get to go sign all the adoption paperwork and that will be awesome! Then we just have to wait for the lawyer to call us and give us our court date, then...She'll be a Pope!We finally got to turn her carseat around this morning! It was so funny. The whole way to her Nana's she kept saying, "Uh Oh, Uh Oh!" I don't know if she was talking about the cars coming at us or what. As you can see by her face, she wasn't quite sure what to think of this new veiw on the world!
Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

1st Birthday Party!

We had Josie's 1st birthday party on Saturday and it was SO much fun! The weather was perfect. All the kids got to play outside the whole afternoon! We had a great turn out! She had a great time with her little friends!

She was so cute with her cake! She wasn't really sure why everyone was staring at her or what she was supposed to do, but once she started she was so cute! She had a sugar free banana cake but she did get a little powdered sugar in the frosting! She even shared with her best buddie Everett!

Here is a link to all the pictures from the party! Thanks so much for taking them Tiff!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91843&l=a4eba&id=536945594

I can't believe she is one! She gets more beautiful everyday!

We leave on Thursday for a week out west. I can't wait to spend all that time with her!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

We have our first temper tantrum! She's even cute when she's throwing a fit!

We're Georgia Voters!

Josie and I voted for the first time on Tuesday. I feel like a real American now.

Look Out Baby Gap...

http://www.bethmillerphotography.com/Nicole/album/

Oh, who are they kidding? She's cuter then any Baby Gap Model! Here's the link for the pictures we had done last weekend for her 1st birthday. I'm taking donations if anyone would like to help me buy them all!
Seriously though, if any family wants to buy a print, just let me know and we can send in one order. I will be using this girl again. She really captured who Josie is. Our friend Jordan will be our main photographer. Now all we need to do is get her to move to this side of town!

Mini Me

Josie LOVES to play in the dishwasher! I know what one of her chores is going to be!
I make her homemade sugarfree carrot and apple muffins. Despite the look on her face, she loves them! She's getting picky about what she will eat, but I know if I put one of these in her hand, the whole thing will be in her mouth in less then a minute!
We can now MOOOO! Her favorite animal noise is the Tiger though. She crawls around shaking her head and ROARRING! It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Well, I guess I say that about everything she does!
Josie has taken to eating her crib. There are some distinct teeth marks on the rail. Of course we bought the trendy wave looking crib, so we can't find those bite guard things for it. Oh well.
Her birthday party is on Saturday. We planned on having a really small intimate party with just our close friends and family. Well, I just added up the people that are coming, it's already over 35! Opps!

My Uncle John

My Uncle John passed away last night. We have known that this day was coming for a little over a year now. However, that doesn't make it any easier.
Please be in prayer for my family during this time. I can't imagine losing my older brother or my child. He was a Christian and a great man. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he is in a better place and that I'll see him again. It's nice to know that we can cry with hope.

The Stair Master

Our little lady is now ready to climb Mt. Everest! At least that's what it seemed like when she figured out how to climb the stairs! I can't believe how fast she learned! It was her first time standing on them and up she went! She was pretty excited about her new talent. Luckily, she sticks pretty close to us around the house so she doesn't try to do it without us right there, but I'm sure those days are coming.
I can't believe she is going to be one in a week! Now I know why moms count their kids age in months even after they turn one. I'll still be counting her age in months when she's 12! We are having a small party for her on Saturday and then we'll do dinner on her actual birthday. The day after her birthday we go to sign the adoption paperwork and then we leave on Thursday for a long vacation to Arizona and to Texas! What a fun birthday week! I will have a billion pictures to post over the next week, so come back often!

Yea to Fridays!

She couldn't be any cuter!
We are going to get some professional pictures done tomorrow. Darlene found an ad for a woman looking to grow her baby portfolio so she's going to do the shoot for free. Works for me!
Her molars have been giving her a hard time this week. Three of them are in, but the top left one is taking it's sweet time. My poor baby hasn't been eating anything and has had some interesting diapers! She seems to be eating again today so that's good!
Andrew and I have a few things in the mix that may allow me to stay home with Josie within the next month or two. We are really praying for God's provision and guidance while we make these choices. We are going to start an at home daycare. I am getting my license now. I would only keep 3 or 4 children so the care would be very personal. Right now I am trying to get the word out and find the children that I will be keeping. I talked with my boss about it yesterday and they were very supportive. It's still not a definate yet, but looking more and more like it will happen everyday. I would absolutly LOVE getting to be with her more then two hours a day. I just feel like we waited too long and prayed too hard to have someone else raise her.
Keep us in your prayers as we try to figure this all out!