Baby proofing

Warning: If you are not in a good mood or are not generally a person who has a good sense of humor, I urge you to have someone else do your baby proofing. 😁

Since Kwesi is running around opening everything he can, it is time (ok, was time like 3 months ago) to lock the cabinets up! I started to do it myself but since Ed was hovering over me and I almost tore the cornea of my eye when chips of wood fell into it, I let him take over. Of course he comes out of no where with some safety glasses that he failed to offer me and starts to take over. So for that... Embarrassing eye wear picture for him! And... Kwesi is officially safe! 

Kwesi-man

Updated picture of my little man... 

Home Study Time!

Our first home study is officially scheduled.  It should last about an hour and a half and I'm asking that everyone begin to pray now that our dog doesn't act like a complete psycho!! I'm very interested to see what this process will be like and I'll be sure to share!  I believe that we have to have 3 total and there is a bunch of paperwork to do as well - some of that includes:

-Physicals, TB Tests

-Birth Certificates

-References

-Financial Info

-Online training

-Autobiographies

-Fingerprints

The list goes on and on... but good thing that I am a binder queen so I already have everything started and organized!! 

As far as some other information... we have to decide whether or not we are raising money before we share too much.  Some countries have very strong views on fundraising and don't allow you to mention their country on blogs if you are doing so -- So, we'll see.  But I am glad to say that it seems that God has narrowed down the country that we're adopting from and I'm thankful for that.... God is good!  More info to come!

Verse of the Day

I receive emails each day from BibleGateway.com that gives me a new verse each day. I'd like to share today's verse which I'm sure you are familiar with if you are familiar with the Bible. Sometimes I get crazy ideas and I doubt myself so I needed a reminder that no matter how crazy the idea may be, if it's in God's plan, it will happen in his perfect timing.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him."

1 John 5:14-15
NIV

I'm expecting!.... to adopt!

So after many conversations with my dear husband, we've decided that we are going to start the process again for adopting! We won't start like... today... but we are expecting to start just as soon as we get some things set financially.  Very exciting!  I have been thinking about whether or not Kwesi should have a sibling for a while now and have been going back and forth about everything that I've experienced when it comes to pregnancy and having kids and one thing is for sure... I enjoy being Kwesi's mom more than anything I've ever done and would love to have another child.  With my history, I don't think I can do that biologically, which really is no big deal to me as I've always wanted to adopt anyway.  I will be happy to keep all of you updated on our journey and as always, appreciate any prayers you can send our way!

Until next time... Anderson, out!

What? It's only been 5 months!

Yeah, it's been 5 months.  But I'm back!  In the last two weeks, there have been numerous times where I thought to myself, "I should blog about that" but now that I'm actually blogging, I'm sure I'll remember none of them!  But here's a quick 5 months in review...

Kwesi is now 8.5 months old! He has 2 teeth and is crawling and pulling himself up to stand anywhere that he can.  He is trying to stick his fingers in outlets, trying to pull cords out of the wall, and playing with everything in the house except his toys.  All in all, he is absolutely delightful... he brings more joy than my life than I knew was possible.  What's that you say?  When am I having another one?  Don't hold your breath!  It's funny to me that towards the end of my pregnancy before Kwesi was even born and then the first 3 months of his life when I was completely sleep deprived, fat, and exhausted, the first question people asked me was, "When are you going to have another one?"  I mean come on people! This one just got here!! To summarize, one is enough for me.

Physically, I'm about 13 pounds lighter than I was before I got pregnant with Kwesi so things are going well.  I lost my pregnancy weight fairly quick but my body doesn't look the same at all... well, I shouldn't say my body as much as my stomach.  So, I've been working with an online trainer who is absolutely amazing (Katie Wilson/X Training, www.trainwithx.com) and now the inches are coming off and not just the weight.  I'm much stronger than I thought I was and I hope to have some progress pictures up soon - maybe July?? We'll see!

That's all for now but I'll be back! Here's a picture of Kwesi at 4 months...

Aren't you glad God isn't like Santa Claus?

I used to commute... and a lot of people say that commuting is terrible and such a waste of time but I have to admit that I have never really minded driving to work.  The last commute I had was about 45 minutes and of course now that my job is 6 minutes - literally, 6 minutes - away from my house I do enjoy saving the gas money but I miss my commute.  You see, I used to use that time to relax, think about my day and most importantly, pray.  I am now in my second year at my current job and really struggle with 'finding time' to pray... in silence...without being inundated with thoughts of what else I should be doing.  Well, recently I've started taking Kwesi to daycare and it happens to be on the other side of town which means that it takes me about 10 minutes to get there and then another 15 minutes to drive to work.  At first I thought it was a waste of time but then I quickly realized that I got my free time back!  And even more exciting is that I've started listening to this wonderful pastor out of Lee's Summit, Mo on my iPhone podcast -- okay, he's my brother-  but is really the best speaker that I've ever heard.  (If you have time, I encourage you to check out his podcast from iTunes - just look up Journey Church International.) Anywho, what I've really taken away from the last couple of messages that I've listened to is the love that God has for us.  I'm not sure why but I've always kind of felt like God was more disappointed in me than anything else... and not for anything in particular, but for my lack of doing anything perfect.  But the other day when I was listening to one of Christian's sermons, it clicked.  I've always kind of treated God as if he were Santa Claus... you know, the whole mentality of 'keeping a list and checking it twice, gonna find out if you're naughty or nice.'  I think some of us figure that God keeps track of everything we do and instead of being happy the majority of the time, he's up there shaking his head checking off boxes that say "bad attitude", "smartalic", "not thankful enough."  Having Kwesi has really changed my view on God's love as well and really made it sink in how fully you can love someone else... no matter if they are naughty or nice.  If God loves us anything like I love my son (and of course it's much more) then not only are we extremely blessed but also have nothing to stress out about.  Anyone who loves you this much always wants the best for you.  As we move into this holiday season, I encourage you to thank God daily that he's not Santa Claus  - he's not keeping a list - he's just loving you daily.