Stress Related Hives

In an effort to keep it real around here...I've been breaking out in hives multiple times a day for the past couple weeks. At first, I thought it must have been irritation from some fabric. I couldn't figure out why I had them every day, though. Afterall, I don't wear the same thing every day. After a week or so, my mom suggested maybe it was stress/anxiety related. That had never occured to me. Sure enough, stress and anxiety can, in fact, cause hives. Bummer.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized two big causes of stress/anxiety that I hadn't previously been acknowledging.

#1 Matt is coming home this Spring and as the time approaches for his return, I've become increasingly worried that he won't actually make it home. Morbid? Yes. But it happens. Recent events have made his location more dangerous than before. Recent events aside, he's in Afghanistan in a war zone! Men from his location have been killed in action since he's been there. I honestly haven't worried too much about his safety since he's been gone, but lately, it's become a much bigger concern for me. I think one reason is that he's been away for such an extended period of time that it's hard for me to imagine him being home again. He just hasn't been part of our daily routine for a while now, so the thought of him just showing up and jumping right back in is, at times, unbelievable to me. Secondly, travel is dangerous. The actual trip from there to here is a dangerous one. He stays put at his location, but in order to get home he has to travel through dangerous locations. That makes me nervous...and gives me hives.

#2 Sadly, Easton isn't come home anytime soon. I try not to think about it much because it's very upsetting. My son is literally halfway around the world. I won't meet him for likely another year or more. When we started this process, I thought we would be bringing home an 11-12 month old. Now we will likely bring home a 2-2.5 year old. That's a whole different ballgame folks. I have so many emotions about it that I can hardly articulate them. Suffice it to say, I'm in turmoil over the circumstances of his homecoming. Will it be worth it? Absolutely. In the here and now though, it's so upsetting to me knowing that I won't meet my son for so long. That delaying when he will join our family will only increase the challenges he will have when he does finally come home. The fact that his delayed homecoming is based on bureaucracy is a source of major frustration.

At the end of the day, our family of six is separated. We're missing two of our members. I just want my boys home, big and small.

And now I will go back to scratching my hives.

For Daddy

Hi Daddy!

Here are some pictures of us playing outside in the driveway yesterday. Mommy didn't get the best pictures---might have had something to do with the fact that we were all moving targets. But, you get the idea. Come home soon. We want you to take us to Chuck E. Cheese. Plus, Mommy isn't as good at hide 'n seek as you are. And she doesn't take us out for ice cream as often as you either.

We love you!

Addy, Colt, and Noodles

Natalie's News

See the little space on the bottom where her tooth was?

So excited!
Natalie has had a loose tooth for about a month. She has literally been praying that it would fall out. The only problem? She wouldn't wiggle it at all or let me touch it. So, I anticipated that wiggly tooth would just keep hanging on for dear life for quite a while. But, I forgot to account for my own impatience (silly me). So, on Wednesday night, I just asked Natalie if I could see her tooth. When she opened up, I reached in with a little piece of cloth and pulled it out. Don't worry, it didn't hurt her one little bit. She didn't even notice I did it until I showed her the tooth--that's how loose it was. Anyhow, as soon as I showed it to her she started giggling and jumping up and down. Later, she asked Colton to sit on the couch with her and think about what the tooth fairy might bring her. I told her that I am, in fact, the tooth fairy. That didn't seem to bother her at all--she still knew something would show up under her pillow that night. It turns out the tooth fairy has gotten more generous that when I was a kid. Natalie woke up with a $5 bill under her pillow (I didn't have any $1 bills in my wallet...). She's growing up way too fast...

Speaking of snow...

Interestingly, Matt has gotten a lot more snow in Afghanistan this winter than we have here. Before Matt was deployed, I thought of Afghanistan as a hot, desert climate. Ah, ignorance. Anyhow, it's been a cold winter there with plenty of snow and ice. Have I ever told you about the time a month or so ago when Matt had the flu and went out to test the outdoor track for ice (for an upcoming PT test) and slipped and fell on the ice? He thought maybe he had broken his hip and just laid there on the ground to see if the pain would subside. Now, I may be coldhearted, but the thought of my twenty something husband, flu ridden, laying on a track covered with ice and moaning due to a potential broken hip just cracked.me.up. For the record, his hip was fine. And he got over the flu shortly after that. I digress...

As I was saying, he's had plenty of snow over there. You know what else he and his comrades have a lot of? Free time. So, they've been able to develop their snow sculpting skills quite a bit when they're not working. Case in point:the snow jeep. It even has windhsield wipers. And a hot soldier in the backseat with a 9 MM in each hand. Love you babe! Watch out for ice.

A Servant's heart

We got our first snow (that required a shovel) of the season a few days ago. This winter has been uncharacteristically mild, so the kids have been anxiously anticipating snow for months. Finally, they woke up to everything covered in white. They were thrilled! Colton went to preschool in the morning (and had a fantastic Valentine's Day party) and Natalie changed into her snowsuit and boots immediately after getting home from dropping him off at school. Addy was feeling a little under the weather, so Natalie headed out in the front yard to play in the snow by herself. Trust me, she didn't mind. She was pumped to say the least.

I kept peeking out the window to check on her and see what she was up to. After she had been outside for about 30 minutes or so (scooping snow into a bucket), she went into the garage and drug out my big shovel. She then drug it over to the neighbor's driveway and started shoveling their driveway. If you know Natalie personally, then you know that her strengths do not lie in her coordination or muscle power. So, the fact that she was shovelling the neighbor's driveway was not something I would expect for her to be able to accomplish without a great deal of effort. I stood in the window and just watched her. She kept at it for over an hour. She tripped and fell more than once, but she got right back up and started shovelling again.

Finally, after an hour and a half, I called her inside to change into dry clothes and have something to eat before picking up Colton. I asked her why she was shovelling the neighbor's driveway and she told me she did it just to be kind. She then told me that she got tired and felt like stopping, but she thought that God would probably want her to keep working at it and not give up. Wow! Amen sister! What a lesson I can learn from my sweet 6 year old. So often, when I'm faced with an obstacle, I just compain and throw my hands up in defeat. I could stand to emulate my daughter a little more and pick up my shovel and get right back at it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Nana and Papa with the girls

Me and my little sweetheart

Love these three!

Isn't he just as handsome as can be?

Sweet Natalie Grace (and the flowers Matt send me for Valentine's Day)

Happy Valentine's Day from all of us to you! I really enjoy this holiday. It's a great day to celebrate all the people in my life that I love and a great opportunity to share with the kids how much they are loved and cherished by our awesome God. Not to mention, I love baking Valentine's Day treats. Lots of them. :-)

Our kids play in cupboards

I love how kids think. They come up with the funniest games and ideas. Their imaginations are limitless and they're pretty clever. Recently, all my kids have developed an affinitiy for hanging out in the kitchen cupboards. Would I have ever come up with the idea to gather up some pillows and books and climb right in? Probably not. But them? Different story.

Legals and a physical exam!

Today was another exciting day in terms of Easton related news. We received an email from our agency today that Easton's legals are being sent via Fedex on Monday and should arrive by Wednesday. We've been waiting to receive theses documents since October. Basically, Easton's legals are documents showing that he is, in fact, available for adoption. Included in these documents are his birth mother's name and fingerprints. That may not sound like much, but it will mean a lot to us, and to Easton (eventually) to have that.

Once we receive his legals next week, we will be able to file our I600, which is basically an application and approval process for the US allowing us to bring Easton into the country. Getting I600 approval is the last major step of the process on the US end of things. After that, we wait on Korea. Emphasis on we WAIT on Korea.

God has perfect timing though, so it's all good. :-)

Speaking of Easton, we also got a physical exam report for him today via email (banner day). According to his checkup he is now 23 pounds, 29 inches tall, has two teeth on top and two on bottom, says umma (mommy), appa (daddy), and jabbers quite a bit. He can also walk and run (!) and likes to try and stack blocks. He also played with a ball with the examiner and he bows (that's the traditional greeting in Korea). Picturing my sweet little 12 month old bowing to greet someone just melts my heart!

That's all for now!

We're moving...across the country.

I've hesitated to share this news for the past few weeks because we don't have official orders from the Army yet, but...it looks as though it's just a matter of time. Do you remember me mentioning a while back that Matt was accepted into a residency program for Endodontics within the Army? Do you also remember when I said he would start in the summer of 2013? Well, someone who is supposed to be starting THIS summer has apparently dropped out of the program. For some reason, Matt was chosen to fill that person's spot. So, he's starting the Endo residency one year earlier than we thought. What does all this mean? Well, I'm glad you asked. It means that Matt will be home in the Spring and we will move 1,000 miles away about 4 (ish) weeks later.

After a few initial *hiccups* with our adoption agency (we're moving to a state our agency doens't work in), they have agreed that us moving isn't a deal breaker as far as adopting Easton goes. Hooray! Afterall, we ARE in the military. Moving kind of comes with the territory. Once we move, we will just have to have a new homestudy done, more background checks, and let US immigration know that we've relocated. I don't mind the extra legwork one bit as long as we still get to bring home our sweet little guy. :-)

That's all for now folks. Sorry this post had no pictures. If you're in the mood for some, please see my last post for two pictures that are PRICELESS.

Two new pictures!

How cute is our little guy? He's looking so much older!

Today I was surprised to find two new pictures of Easton in my inbox. I couldn't be happier. I was just telling my mom that I don't know if he ever got the package we sent for his birthday and how I was a little bummed about it. BUT, it's care package or not, I'm so thankful just to see TWO new pictures of our little guy. Enjoy! I know I will. Love you Easton!