I have started a new blog about our adventures as a family of five. You can find it here.

We Finalized Today

We are blessed to receive such a wonderful gift this Christmas. Seth is forever ours!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Whew!

I am recuperating today. Joel and I have been selling flip flops since Thursday. Today's Monday. Our city hosts the Dizzy Dean World Series baseball tournament every year. This year 140 boy teams and 74 girl team graced our fair city. We were fortunate enough to be able to sell at both girls and boys venues. When you are not used to being outside in the heat spending a weekend outside in the high 90's is daunting. I love being part of such an exciting event. The teams are excited to be here as most of them don't travel out of town. They have worked hard and playing here $a privilege. We had teams from all over. New Orleans, St. Pete, FL,(13 hrs away), GA, AL. Joel and I both love talking to people from different areas. We call our little operation "Flip Flop to Adopt." People were so generous and sweet. One mom started crying yesterday when I told her our story. I even had men buying shoes for their wives. We even met a family adopting from Thailand. We love sharing our adoption story.

Our weekend was successful and even after being gone 13 hours each day it was definatly worth it. Hope to do it again next year.

Lexi's Work

My friend Lexi has started a photography business. She is a genious at her craft. She loves to capture the emotions of people. Truthfully, I thought they were going to terrible and was disappointed when I left the shoot. Boy was I surprised when I got these awesome pictures!! I just love her and am thankful to have her as a friend. Look at what a great job she did..

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It's Me!

Please don't fall out! I am still alive and kickin'! We have had some internet issues and I have been super swamped learning to be a mommy of 3 and all that it entails. Not to mention that our flip flops and t-shirts fundraiser is doing awesome! Folks are so so gracious and God has blessed it. Super crazy things have happened that has helped us sell lots of shoes and t-shirts.

Seth finally got his shots yesterday. They gave him 4 total. One in each arm and one in each leg. He has not walked much today. I have been giving him Tylenol to help with the pain. I would rather get it done and over with with one visit. I think it makes it less traumatizing to them. He didn't cry until his second shot. He has a high tolerance for pain.

Will has had strep throat this week. It cut his swimming lessons off early. We will begin on Monday. We have attended 2 VBS's in the area. The kids loved them! So much fun. Plus, they learn about Jesus and it gives me a break. I have had Megan and Ruthie come and baby sit once a week. Megan filled in when Ruthie was out of town. Having her come gives me a day to get out and run errands, make Dr. appointments, and handle flip flop business.

We have an open house tomorrow and will be doing all of the world series ball tournaments in July. We also plan on being at the fall festivals. I think my shirts have made a great addition.

Kara is going to kid's camp in Oklahoma in July. She is also doing a theatre camp that she is excited about.

My mom bought the kids a water slide that has been so much fun! They love to get on it and will play for hours! Kara's birthday is next week so we are in full swing preparing for it. This will be her first big sleep over. Pray for me!!

Seth is just a joy and he loves to do whatever we are doing. We have gone to the pool a few times and he is happy the entire stay. You can tell that he is getting close to being 2. He wants to hold things for himself and if you don't let him he falls out in the floor. He is demanding and more and more independent.

Did I mention that Seth is in his crib? Yes, the day Kara got out of school we put him in his crib in his room. Went cold turkey. I would not recommend it for the faint of heart. He didn't sleep for 3 days! He did great during the day and didn't show any signs of regression. I am proud of him. It has made me a better mom! Now he goes into his crib fine. He usually fusses less than a minute before he is out. We are trying to reserve the bottle for crib time only.

Seth was dedicated on Sunday. It was so sweet and made me remember that God has a destiny for Seth. Dedication in our church is more for the parents than for the children. We are dedicating him to the Lord and promising God that we will raise him in a Christian home.

Kara is being baptized Sunday. Or, "babitized" as she says.

Creative Folks

I wanted to say thank you to both Lisa and Mrs. Jeanne for the creative gifts that you gave Seth. They look so good in his room and tie things together perfectly.

May Flowers

We have been so busy this month. I told someone yesterday that I feel like I am being pulled in 5 different directions. When I have a minute to post something on here I am usually too tired to do it.

Seth is just doing super! He is your typical 15 month old. He loves to babble, babble, babble. He also loves to SCREAM! Not for any particular reason except to hear himself. He especially lets out a wail when Will is aggravating him. I asked Will yesterday "Do you like hearing him scream?". Will said "yes!". That came as somewhat of a surprise to me as it makes me feel the same as when fingernails go down a chalk board. Boys, I just don't understand them sometimes (OK, most of the time).

I have questioned myself lately about Seth's progress. I have followed another family that recently traveled to Thailand. They have really had it rough. We just did not experience a tremendous amount of difficulty. I guess it is because Seth was younger. I also attribute Seth's transition success to Mrs. Ting. He had already bonded with a great family that he just adjusted fairly easy to ours. We have had some bumpy spots and sleepless nights. The first four weeks were really rough. It was like having a newborn. He was getting used to us and us to him. I think that everyone has done better than me. It has been hard getting used to 3 kids and all of the responsibilities that go with it. I think it is true about having "post adoption blues." Each days is better and Seth is just a little ball of sunshine.