Nothing Cuter

Than a baby on the potty.

Nora uses her potty 4-5 times a day. I am not trying to potty train her.  I just want her to be used to using the potty when she is ready to transition out of diapers.  Currently, she has a poopy diaper about once or twice a month.  She is really good at letting me know when she needs to go.  She's even done her business at a restaurant.  Time consuming?  Only a little.  But worth it considering how few dirty diapers I change.  ;)

Fun in the Swing

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

For unto us is born this day, in the city of David,  a Savior which is Christ the Lord.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

First Couplet!

We just had Zeb's re-evaluation with our neurodevelopmentalist earlier this week.  He has come SO far!  Just looking back from where he was last year at our first evaluation is amazing.  I can't express thoroughly enough just how much he has changed.

But at the evaluation our ND therapist, Linda, said that he should be using couplets just any time now.  Because he can follow 3 step directions, he should be able to piece together two or even three words.  So, we will be working on that for the next four months.

But just when I was gearing up for that activity, Zeb showed me he didn't need my help.

Tonight, he was grunting to get our attention when I asked him, "What do you want?"  and he replied, "More water."

Mike and I both just looked at each other with huge grins on our faces.  He did it!  His first couplet!  Oh, my boy never ceases to amaze me.  He is such a blessing.

It Is The Process

I love this quote from My Utmost for His Highest,

"Often, Christians think that if Jesus Christ compels them to do something, He will lead them to success in the endeavor, if only they are obedient to Him. If you agree, then you are in for a rude awakening; our dreams of success are not God's ultimate purpose for us. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is not of primary importance. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God often sees as the goal itself.

If I can stay calm, faithful and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish-- His purpose is the process itself.

God's purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience and trust are the goal, then each moment as it comes becomes the real standard of success."

This made me think of so many adopting families who have started the process KNOWING that God called them to it, but weren't able to complete the journey for one reason or another.  I have seen people left with many questions about why they were called if not to complete the adoption.  This makes me see that the question they need to be asking is, "What did God want me to learn from this process?"

Raising children is a process that changes me on a daily basis.  My need to rely on the Lord every day becomes more and more clear the longer I am a parent. Lately, God has been helping me learn to control my tongue. Wow, that is a hard lesson.  But each day is filled with opportunities to practice. Smetimes I fail and sometimes, by God's grace, I succeed.

What process are you in?  What are you learning?

When You're #6

Still Here

I just haven't had the desire to blog lately.  This happens to me often.  It's not that I have nothing to say, just that I don't feel like saying anything.

We are doing good though.  Zeb is potty training and he has been doing great the last week or so.  He has been waking up with a dry diaper and sleeping with his training pants on during nap time with no accidents!  This morning though wasn't the best.  Somehow, Zeb was put to bed last night with his underwear still on.  So, this morning I went to get him out of bed and he was soaked to the chest.  Yuck!  Not the way I like to start my day.  I hadn't even finished my first cup of coffee.  I may have been a little grumpy after that.

Zeb is running now.  It is so funny to watch.  Most of the time when he runs it is because he has taken something that doesn't belong to him.  We'll see him running into the room with a HUGE smile on his face and know that he has something he shouldn't.  I just can't help but laugh.

Zeb also can say about 40 words.  But, generally, he only says them when he is forced or during therapy.  Except for the word "Mom".  He says that ALL.DAY.LONG.  I love it!

One last thing, Zeb is Eli's shadow.  If Eli does it, so does Zeb.  It is adorable.  Well, most of the time.  But when Eli does something bad, it's not so cute.  Won't those two be fun in another year or two?  I can't wait to watch them grow up together.  Our neighbor asked Eli today how old he is.  He answered, "Me and Zeb are three."  And recently, while at the grocery store, Eli looked at the cashier and said, "This is my brother Zeb."  Eli loves his brother and quite possibly he has decided to help Zeb out by talking for him.  Which it great until Eli does something wrong and blames it on Zeb.  Lucky for Zeb, I'm on him.