Egg Hunt

We spent a wonderful weekend in Illinois with Shane's family. They celebrate Easter together on Palm Sunday and we were so glad we got to be there this year. Silas was more than thrilled with the egg hunt. Each of the kids got to find 5 eggs but since Silas was having such fun, we kept pulling eggs out of his bag and hiding them over again. Isn't he just too cute?

We got home tonight and are all exhausted from the weekend. Silas did great on Saturday and Sunday being with family and not really getting naps. He was more than ready to go to bed early tonight. But we all need to get rested up; we have a fun week planned...my sister is coming to visit!

Hooray!

I am so excited! We can finally plan that baby shower we've been talking about for so long! You can meet my friend Charis' sweet baby Hannah Feven on their blog.

Come, let us return to the Lord.

He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us;

He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.

After two days He will revive us;

on the third day He will restore us,

that we may live in His presence.

Let us acknowledge the Lord;

let us press on to acknowledge Him.

As surely as the sun rises, He will appear;

He will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth.

Hosea 6:1-3

Run-Down and a Run-In

Oh, these sweet boys.
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Silas and I went to play with our friends Julie and Jonah this week. I totally forgot I had taken pictures till I turned on the camera tonight (below you'll read why I had to get it out!). It's fun that they are both learning to look at the camera and smile.
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We went back to the doctor for a regular check-up and ultrasound this week. The babies are growing; both weigh over a pound now. It's really amazing to think about. Lieren is our baby A, meaning she is the baby lower down. Simeon is baby B. They are both wiggly little monsters.
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Shane and my parents both let me know that they didn't think I accurately portrayed how to pronounce Lieren's name. They all say the break should be after the r. After hearing them, I do agree. So her name is really said leer-en. Sweet little girl is breech right now. I'm praying she turns in the next several weeks. Both the babies heads are on my right side and that will get super uncomfortable as they grow if they stay that way!
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Isn't the shirt I'm wearing cute? Our friends Vince and Alisa are selling them through their blog. If you get one, you'll be supporting their next adoption and they are also donating a portion of the proceeds to help purchase playground equipment for a children's home in Ethiopia. I got it in the mail this week and was so excited when I realized it still fit!

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Well, tonight Shane had to work so Silas and I spent an evening at home by ourselves. Unfortunately, when I was sitting right there beside him, Silas had his first run-in with a black marker...

We keep some pens and markers in a drawer in our guest bedroom. We usually just keep that door shut, but when we can keep an eye on the boy, he loves to sit, pull the drawer open, and dig through all the office-y stuff. He has never been able to pull the tops off the markers before. Tonight he figured it out. And immediately put the marker in his mouth!

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I couldn't help but laugh and immediately took him into the bathroom to show him what he had done. He thought it was funny, too. Thankfully it was a Crayola washable marker, not a permanent one. It all came off quickly in the bath and with a good teeth-brushing. Now I'll just have to clear that drawer out!

What He's Into

Today the sun was shining again and it was gorgeous outside. I am more ready for spring this year than ever. Silas is, too. He loved being outside several different times today. Just being outside with him made me realize how much he has grown and changed over the winter. I used to worry about him crashing down the couple steps off our deck. Now he manages them alone easily. I used to be so proud when he would say "tree" or "leaf" when we were outside. Now when we're in the backyard he's saying "Auggie run-run", "Lu-lu tree" (Luther's under the tree), "Shoe on" (he loves his play shoes), or "Where airplane?" (when we hear one but can't see it).
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Our boy is definitely a learner. His language has exploded in the past couple of weeks. If I say something he doesn't understand, he looks at me, trying to figure it out. He watches closely where I point when I use prepositions. He repeats new words we use constantly so we are extremely careful about what we say!
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I recently started reading to him from a children's Bible at breakfast time. Silas now asks for "book" whenever we sit down and will say "Bible" when we ask him what the book is called. This morning we read about Abraham. When we were finished, Silas almost started crying, asking for "more book". It was such a moment. At 22 months, our boy is learning to love the Word. My prayer today as I put him to bed was that he would have countless moments in his life where he just wants to linger and have "more Book".
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Silas loves buses. I've taken to making up more verses to "The Wheels on the Bus" so that I don't have to sing the same ones over and over. I think the delight of his day today was being right there on the sidewalk when a school bus pulled up to drop off some kids. After it drove away I said, "See, the people got off the bus." Then for a whole block of our walk he proceeded to repeat "people bus".
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And he loves all things alphabet. He knows all the letter sounds now so as we drive along, he says the sounds of the letters he sees. It's pretty funny to hear him. I got him a new alphabet puzzle last week and I'm sure we've done it at least 50 times already. Any day we should be getting alphabet magnets I ordered for the fridge. I can't wait to see how they thrill him. Here's Shane and Silas playing with our set of peek-a-boo blocks that have letters on them. Activities like this are Silas' favorite!

Reflections from an Ex-Orphan

We are literally surrounded by adoption. In our church, over 120 children have been adopted. So Silas goes to the nursery alongside children born in Ethiopia, China, Guatemala, the Philippines, Korea, and the United States who were once orphans but are now deeply loved sons and daughters with families to which they belong.
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This morning I sat beside a friend in our mom's group who has a picture of her third child, her 10-month old son who is waiting for her in Ethiopia. I sat across from a friend who now holds the sweetest little guy you've ever seen. He joined their family on the day he was born, right here in Kentucky, and we all got to rejoice together a couple months ago when they went to court as a family and he "officially" became their son (he was their son in their hearts long before that!). Two others who sat close beside me have adopted or are in the process of adopting.
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Our pastor's wife taught our group this morning. Barely two weeks ago, her husband returned from the Philippines with their son, the third child they have added to their family through adoption. You can imagine that seeing that little Filipino boy brings back lots of memories and emotions for me. He is a doll, and speaks with the Filipino-English accent you can only recognize if you've been there.
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Just last week one of my dearest friends called to tell me she and her husband have decided to adopt a child, probably from Ethiopia. I couldn't be happier for them, and will pray along with them till their little one is home.
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I recently shared about our friends who desperately want to go get their little girl, but were having issues with paperwork. The Lord did intervene and we are praying that this Friday all will be finalized! Charis wrote an update you can read here...and pray with us that after Friday we will get to have the baby shower we've been planning for so long!
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And this week some of our good friends from college finally saw a picture of the darling girl who will join their family. You can read about Luke and Laura here. They have been selling adoption cookbooks to raise money for this adoption. Laura has an e-mail address on their blog if you'd like to help them out with that.
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And we have several other friends who have or are adopting as well, including our friends for whom Silas wore his Africa treasu(red) outfit the day they met their baby boy.
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I have been reading Dr. Russell Moore's book, "Adopted for Life" recently. Shane got it for me for Christmas. It is an amazing account of how our God took us who were spiritual orphans, and made a way for us to become beloved sons and daughters. It is deeply humbling to be reminded that while I was never a biological orphan (I was born into a family with a father and mother), I was once spiritually alone. But now, because of God's grace and His plan, I am a child with all the rights, the privileges, the inheritance, and the acceptance of all those in His family.
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I'm probably making some of you sweat with all this talk of adoption! With our 2 little ones just 4 months from their due-date, we are not in the season for adoption ourselves! But we can love on orphans through the lives of our friends, pray with them, and support them when we can. And we can teach our children that all children are precious, no matter how they look. As I tell Silas all the time, "If you had not been born into this family, I would have traveled the world to find you and bring you home."
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I will show my love to the one I called "Not my loved one."

I will say to those called "Not my people", "You are my people";

And they will say, "You are my God."

Hosea 2:23

And They Shall Be Called...

We have known our babies first names for several weeks now. We still have not settled on middle names, but we recently shared their first names with a few friends and got anxious to tell you, too. We love their names and have already started to teach Silas to say them.

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Our baby boy and girl will be named Simeon and Lieren.

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I will share more about their names in the days to come, but for now, you might want to know that Simeon's name comes from Luke 2 when Jesus is dedicated in the temple and Lieren's name (pronounced leer-en, just in case you were wondering) is simply a name we love.

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I still have moments when I have trouble wrapping my mind around the thought of two babies at once. It's not overwhelming to think about caring for them (maybe I'm just naive), it's the reality that there are two little ones getting ready to join our family. As many times as I have seen them in ultrasound pictures, I still sometimes think, Are we really having twins?

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And just when I start to wonder how in the world we will have what we need for these two little ones, God goes and does something like He did yesterday...

We were given that entire mountain of baby girl clothes and shoes. I can't get over it. The sizes and seasons are just right for little Lieren. Everything is in perfect condition and some of it is still brand-new with tags. There is also a pink baby bouncy seat that I didn't pull out to get in the picture.

A lady in my Wednesday morning mom's group at church had a friend who was giving away all her baby girl things and decided to send it to our group for people to take what they wanted. Well, all the other ladies said they didn't need it or the sizes were wrong so they lavished it on me! Needless to say, baby Lieren is going to be stylin'! We were given a similar gift from a friend of Wes and Brooke before Silas was born. It was a huge blessing back then and Simeon will get those things passed on to him.

Well, I hear a little man waking in the room down the hall. So I'll head off for now. It is bitterly cold again and snowed a bit last night. We'll stay in the rest of the day and dream of spring, I guess.

Weekend Recap

I slept 11 hours last night. The babies must be going through a growth spurt because I just cannot get enough rest the past two days. Thankfully Silas slept in till 9:30 so I still was able to get up and around before he woke. I love being up before him. It gives me time to gather myself before the day really starts.
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We had a fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, who drove down for a quick visit. Silas enjoyed the extra attention and playtime. They had to leave early Sunday morning to avoid more snow headed their way back home. But we had a great time Saturday playing, eating, shopping, and reading books...

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I'm always hoping for a good "family moment" shot, but it rarely works for even just the three of us. In the first picture Silas was ready to eat. He was probably wondering why in the world everyone was waiting around! Then in the second, we had eaten and he was ready to go!

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In other news, Silas has learned to eat with a fork and is loving it. I just decided to try it last Friday after being inspired by my friend Michelle. Now Silas is a pro at it. I told my Mom over the weekend that he had started using utensils on his own, and we both lamented that he was growing up way too fast. It will be good for our hearts to have babies in the house again.