Christmas!!!

We had a great time talking to the kiddos about the beautiful TRUE reason for Christmas. How can you fully explain all that Christ did when He chose to come as a baby...chose to leave heaven and come to save a sinful world...the pureness of Christ's love for us is unfathomable!! It's a beautiful, undeserving love I can't comprehend. Thank you, Jesus, for loving me just as I am and for coming as a tiny baby to save us!!

Talk about a blast!! There is nothing more precious then to experience Christmas through your children's eyes. Our 2yr. olds were a crack up. Baby 'C' kept saying, "I lub Christmas presidents!!" as she would hug every 'president'....Yes...she calls them presidents. Now I'm calling them presidents :) Baby 'S' was soooo excited to see what everyone else got. She would scream, "Wooooo....wook it....wook it!!" What a precious heart!! The 3 older one's really enjoyed seeing everyone open presents they picked out and of course, loved everything they were blessed to receive.

Christmas day proves to be extremely busy. We have brunch at dh's parents and dinner at my parents. A couple of years ago we couldn't take it anymore...more like our kids couldn't...by the time we got to my parents, we had very sad, very tired little one's that we had to force to open presents. Soooo, we started a NEW tradition. Hubby and I decided that Christmas Eve would be OUR family Christmas. We would take all morning opening presents (we do 3 each plus stockings) and spend the entire day playing with our goodies. Then we wake up Christmas morning, get ready and head to dh's parents then my parents. Talk about a blessing...both days are awesome fun and everyone remains happy and thankful!

I pray each of you had a precious time celebrating our Christ's birthday!!

Christmas Eve Blessing!

I am excited to announce the arrival of my precious nephew, Joseph Ethan. He was 9lbs. and 21 inches. Baby and mommy are doing great!! He looks just like his daddy. Because of our germ ridden family, we haven't been able to love on this little peanut, yet. I can't wait to see him!!

Congratulations David and Erika!!

SF update...

So far, all is good :) Baby "S" is doing MUCH better (thank the Lord for antibiotics!) and no one else is sick. I think we will be past the incubation period for the rest of us on Sunday.

Thank you for all your precious prayers...our Lord is hearing them & blessing us!!

SCARLET FEVER!!!!

What do you think of when you first hear the words Scarlet Fever? I, for one, think of a terrible, terrible illness from the 1800's. I also think that it's extremely rare!

Well...guess what?!?!? It IS definitely rare and it WAS definitely a tragic illness in the 1800's but even though it is extremely rare ... my baby "S" has somehow gotten SCARLET FEVER...weird, hun?!?!?

Scarlet Fever: Scarlet fever is caused by an infection with group A streptococcus bacteria. The bacteria make a toxin (poison) that can cause the scarlet-colored rash from which this illness gets its name.

Symptoms...

~fever 101-104 for 3-5 days...CHECK

~full body rash...feels like fine sand paper...CHECK

~strawberry red tongue...CHECK

~very red cheeks...CHECK

~sore throat...CHECK
~feelin' just plain yucky...CHECK

We have no idea where she got it from because we've pretty much been home bound. I am sooo glad I kept the 3 youngest one's home from church Sunday.

Concerns...

~highly contagious during fever

~incubates for 3-5 days

~rash lasts up to 10 days then followed by peeling :(

~possible side effects of SF...pneumonia, impetigo, meningitis...uuggghhh (these are rare though...LOL)

So, needless to say, this stinks! Please pray that our sweet "S" heals quickly and that no one else gets it...hey, a girl can hope, right?!? I will say that my God is totally capable of protecting the rest of us and that's what we are praying for.

UPDATE: I just got a call from my sister and my niece has SF, too. She called me earlier and my niece had almost all the same symptoms of "S". She took her to the dr. and sure enough...she's got it! We were all together on Saturday and both girls fevers started on Monday...uuggghhh!

HOME for CHRISTMAS!

ALL these precious one's are home for their first Christmas! Sit back and enjoy reading these stories of how the Lord has brought each of them home. I know there are a lot more of you out there...leave me your blog address in my comments and I'll add your little miracle, too. Congratulations to each of you!!

Benjamin
Christian
Diezel and Xia AND Christiana (what an amazing story of love!)
Emma Faith
Elsy
Lucy Joy & Amy
Macey
Mylee
Naomi Tao Xuan
Silas
Susanna (talk about a miracle story..we met this beauty in Kunming..we were told she would never be adopted because of her severe heart condition...I am here to say GOD IS SO GOOD! You HAVE to read her miracle story)
Shepherd
Isabel
Sebastian
Grace
Sophie Mei

"It's Christmastime again and now your home...
you're family is here so you will NEVER be alone!"

Is this your baby's first Christmas home?

I LOVE this song. Once again, hearing it causes me to bawl...always does. The words so beautifully express the waiting parents heart. I listened and cried through this song as we waited and now I cry at the beauty that "It's Christmas time again and NOW you're home...your family is here so you will NEVER be alone..."

You see, I will never forget the Christmas of 2006...we were certain she was going to be home! As the realization that she wasn't going to be home sunk in, the harder it was to remain hopeful that she was ever coming home. But our God is faithful and she is home indeed!!

*Is this your little one's first Christmas home? If so, leave me a comment. My next post will be a blog list of families that are home and together for their first Christmas.

I will start the new post on Wednesday...don't worry, as long as you are giving me your blog addresses, I'll keep adding them.

I can't wait to see all that our Lord has done this year in bringing your children home!!!

13 Years Baby!!

Today my Prince Charming and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary! It's so crazy to think we've been together for over 16 years. How awesome is that?!?!?!

What a beautiful, precious gift our marriage is...Lord, once again I am so blown away with how undeserving of your amazing blessings I am. You have given me more than I have ever dreamed of!!!!!!

Our wedding was sooo much fun...that is one day I'd do over and over again! We had a beautiful Christmas wedding...christmas trees, carolers, and all!

Kind of funny to think we got married before digital camera's (ahhhh, we're getting old)...my scanner is busted so here's pictures of pictures ;)

Oh no he didn't.......

Oh YES he DID!!!That silly man of mine....okay, here's the story...we were the last of our friends to get married and somehow their wives-to-be convinced their husbands-to-be NOT to smash the wedding cake into their face...I have a feeling it was more like honeymoon threats if they did such a terrible thing to them on their wedding day....well, the idle threats obviously didn't work for me....I knew I was in BIG TROUBLE when my wonderful, amazing, perfect prince held up the frosting drenched cake...giggled...mind you the BOYS cheering him on...without any hesitation smooshed that cake all over my face...oooohhhh was his mama mad at him :) It was actually really funny...and remember...he's my perfect prince...how could I be mad at him?

I love you, baby...I can't wait to see what the Lord has for our next 13 years...I hear the best is yet to come...I can't imagine it any better!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving...Arizona...Yuckies...

We had a really fun Thanksgiving at my in-laws :) GREAT dinner Nana...thank you!!

"S" lovin' on her papa!

~ Beautiful Cousins~
My beautiful boys...I can call them beautiful cause I'm their mama!! :)
Nana...what exactly did you put in that turkey?

ARIZONA:

We left Friday for our family reunion in Arizona. The journey began at 6am...everyone was wide-eyed and ready for a ROAD TRIP! My parents were in one car, my baby sister and her family were in their car, and then us....all geared up for lllloooonnnngggg drive. It took us 10 hours to get there and everyone did GREAT!

Saturday was the reunion. The first reunion since my grandma passed away. I sure missed hearing her barking orders from the kitchen {hehehe}. She was such a crack up. She loved having everyone over for Thanksgiving! It was always important to her that we all stayed connected one way or another. I miss her!!!

For the "YUCKIES" part...our poor little "I" ended us with the flu all day Saturday :(

Sunday....uuugggghhh....BACK in the car for the llllooooonnnngggg drive home. Just as we hit the holiday traffic, I heard a terrible sound in the back seat............it was our little "S" hurling all over herself, her carseat, & the car! Of course, we were MILES away from the next off ramp and of course, we were completely STOPPED in traffic. After a little hair-raising driving (by all car in our caravan), we made it to an off-ramp...got the baby all cleaned up and jumped back on the road. 14...yes....F-O-U-R-T-E-E-N HOURS later we made it home ;0)

View from my Gpa's backyard

WHAT THIS TRIP WAS ALL ABOUT!!
THANK YOU GRANDPA for having our crazy brood! We had a blast and we LOVE you so much!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my precious friends. We have so much to be thankful for...do we not?!?! I am most thankful that MY GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!!

We are off to visit family in Arizona. It will be a super fast trip but I'll post pictures when we get back! HUGS to each of you!!

Bi-Racial Hair Care

I was recently asked advice on how to care for bi-racial hair and below was my response. I thought a few of you might find it helpful. After $100's and $100's we finally found what works for "Tr's" hair. If you have any other tricks, let me know :) "Tr's" hair does require lots of care but it's worth it and we have a blast trying all kinds of new things.
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Hair Products (in order of my favorites...we pretty much only use Paul Mitchell at this point):
1. Paul Mitchell Shampoo and Conditioner AND Leave-In Condition
2. Mixed Chicks shampoo and Conditioner http://www.mixedchicks.net/index.html
3. Pantene for women of color - shampoo and conditioner

Other products we use daily:
1. Just for Me spray detangler (Wal-Mart or Target)
2. V05 leave-in conditioning dressing (Wal-Mart..in tube or jar) This stuff is fabulous...only need a small amount

Hair tips for bi-racial children:
1. Only wash hair with shampoo 1x a week but use a conditioner at least 2x a week (let the conditioner sit for at least 5 minutes before rinsing) Also, use large tooth comb to comb conditioner through hair before rinsing
2. Have child sleep with satin cap
3. Have child sleep with a satin pillow case (cotton pulls the moisturizers out of the hair and satin does not)
4. Use a leave-in conditioner daily (only need a small amount)
5. Comb hair with large tooth comb and comb from the ends up towards the roots
6. YouTube has a ton of neat braiding videos...we have lots of fun with these :)
7. Never use rubber..rubber bands..use the cloth covered ones. Bi-racial is very fragile and can break easily. Treat it like you would a delicate silk blouse ;)

Our daily routine:
1. Wet hair with Just for Me spray detangler
2. Comb
3. Add Paul Mitchell leave-in condition (small amount)
4. Then add V05 leave-in conditioning dressing (small amount)
5. Comb again
6. Finish styling hair and we are good to go :)
(again, I shampoo once a week and use a rinse conditioner at least twice a week)

Another option is to use a gentle relaxer on her hair (if you are nervous about doing this yourself, I highly recommend having it done by a professional). I recently used the Just for Me relaxer on "Tr's" hair and it worked beautifully! She has long, loose, spiral curls right now and she loves it! It's very gentle on the hair and made for children & it's inexpensive (Wal_Mart or Target). If the directions are followed properly, the hair comes out great!

Hmmmm, I think that's about it. I hope this is helpful. Bi-Racial hair is tricky because it can have so many textures. The above works for "Tr's" hair because her hair is NOT coarse but dry and extremely curly. A lot will depend on your child's hair.