Thursday, October 4, 2012
A Lefty Or A Righty
John Whitten cannot seem to make up his mind about which hand he wants to use. Today I sat and watched him color for a few minutes with his left hand, and then he would stop and talk to me and go back to coloring but this time with his right hand. Shaun's Dad was left handed and I think it would be kind of neat if we could tell John Whitten that he got that little trait from his grandfather.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
R(un) For One
This past weekend Shaun ran the R(un) For One 5k held at Veteran's Park by Lifeline. It was a wonderful time in our adoption process for our family to partake in this run. Mainly because there were so many families there whom had already completed their adoptions, and it was such an encouragement to talk to them and to hear about their own journeys. Also, it was a wonderful chance for us to really expose Lillian and John Whitten to families who have grown through adoption.
Shaun did great and completed the 3.5 miles in 31 minutes. After he was done he then ran in the 1 mile fun run with Lillian. I was shocked, but she ran the WHOLE thing only stopping once for a sip of water that Shaun was carrying with him. She was so proud of herself and Shaun and I were very proud of her too! John Whitten was obsessed with jumping in the "puppy", aka the bounce house that looked like Cliford. I had to drag him our of there when it was time for us to go.
Lillian and Shaun getting ready for their races
cookie monster goes with us everywhere
superman and his sidekick cookie monster
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help, and He will say, "Here I am!"
Isaiah 58:9
Monday, September 24, 2012
Two Year Check Up
John Whitten had his two year check up with Dr. Walley this morning and he got a clean bill of health-not that I was expecting anything different. I had been a little worried about his ears because he messes with them all of the time, but they looked good. Dr. Walley did say that he had fluid in both of them, but that it probably just made his ears itch a little. Dr. Walley and his nurse was also super impressed that John Whitten was wearing big boy underwear and that he pee pee in the cup for his urine sample (easily his favorite part of the whole visit). He got two suckers for being potty trained. He ate one and then handed me the other one saying, "here go Mommy, illian". I thought it was so sweet that he saved one for Lillian. He also got a little finger prick which went fine, he didn't even flinch. Here are his stats:
Height: 36 1/4 inches (95th-100 percentile)
Weight: 27.4 lbs (50th-75th percentile)
*I always like to compare Lillian and John Whitten sizes at each check up. Lillian was 4 pounds less than John Whitten weighing in at only 23 lbs at two, but was only 1/4 an inch shorter.
He is a big boy and growing like a weed. Shaun and I are so blessed and thankful to have a healthy little boy.
helping me fill out his 24 month development survey (notice the lefty)
my attempt at getting a pic of us together
love this guy
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen
2 Peter 3:18
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Auburn vs. LSU
Thanks, Ryan and Julia, for having us all over last night for dinner and football! We had a great time!
sweet cousins
a little bit of dancing before the game
Shaun and his little boy (I LOVE John Whitten's face)
Watching Chuggington with Wyat
Friday, September 21, 2012
Lillian And Jack
Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in Heaven.
Psalm 119:89
Adoption Updates
I am 99% of the time very open, maybe too open, when it comes to most parts of our lives. I don't mind sharing times when our family has struggled, either financially or emotionally. I have never hesitated to admit my own shortcomings as a wife, a Mother or a friend. I have always believed that sharing those things also opened the door for me to share how God's amazing love and faithfulness have gotten me through those difficult situations. However, here we are in perhaps the biggest life challenges that Shaun and I will ever face and I have been tight lipped.
Shaun will be the first to tell you that when something is really hard for me, or really painful I get very quite. Unless you are Alli. My sister/personal therapist. And when it comes to our adoption the emotions are so great, the pain so real, that it just feels like too much to even speak about. There have been many nights when I have just broken down. I have gotten so overwhelmed with confusion, frustration, questions, grace and consuming love that at times I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. How grateful I am for my Heavenly Father who carries me through this heart wrenching process. For my husband who cries with me and stands up for our family and for our decision to adopt. For my friends who cover Shaun and I in prayer, and who have given their money and time to assist us in our journey. Adoption is not for the faint of heart and as Shaun and I have learned, it is not for the weak in spirit either.
We have had two different potential adoptions happen over the last four months. Obviously, neither of them worked out but both of them have left Shaun and I a little scared. The first one, I received a call one morning back in June as I drove to our church for vacation Bible school. It was regarding a 10 day old African American boy in Florida. I immediately called Shaun at work and gave him the information that I had been given. With his voice shaking he said a quick prayer for us before hanging up the phone to call the attorney. We were told upfront that the little boy had irregular brain activity and asked if we would still be interested. Shaun never hesitated to answer, "Yes, we are interested". A side not about Florida adoptions...there is no waiting period after papers are singed for the birth mother to change her mind. For six amazing hours I thought (being completely naive) , that sweet boy was ours. Then Shaun called me to tell me that the birth mother had changed her mind. There was this huge part of Shaun and I that was devastated and incredibly hurt. But at the same time there was another part of us that was happy for that birth mother.
Our second potential adoption happened just last week. My cousin called me after talking to a former coworker who's daughter was currently fostering an 11 month old little girl. She had been born at 25 weeks gestation and even though her first birthday is just a couple of weeks away she currently only weighs 12 pounds! Shaun and I checked out some pictures/videos of her and were drawn into her big black eyes and her sweet smile. Due to her premature birth we knew before we even called that she had a few sever medical problems. She was obviously very small, she has had 18 surgeries in her eleven short months of life and she needs the help of a vent to breath at night. These things of course made Shaun and I nervous, but still we had gone into this saying that we would be open to every situation, so we called the foster parent Friday night and spoke to her for over an hour. She gave us all of the information she could and we told her that we would talk about it an call her tomorrow. Shaun and I talked a lot that night. The next morning as I was getting out of the shower Shaun came to me and told me, "We couldn't give her what she needs, Melissa". In our hearts I think we had realized that about thirty minutes into the conversation with her foster mom the night before. Still Shaun and I believe that little girl was brought into our lives for a reason and we are excited to have the chance to be prayer warriors for her and her foster family.
Other than being left heart sick over these two potential adoptions, Shaun and I have struggled with adoption related issues with various family members and friends. We understand that a lot of people think adoption (especially domestic) is only something that you do when you cannot have children of your own. And we also understand that adopting a child that is biracial or a different race all together will forever change the look of our family. And that is hard to wrap your head around sometimes. However, while we understand all of the concerns it is still hard to be going through such a HUGE thing and never have close family ask you, "how's it going?" or "where are you at". It is almost like they are scared of the answer. They are scared we are going to say, "Oh, it's going great. We pick up our drug addicted, black baby tomorrow". For some of them, reading these two stories about our potential adoption experiences on our blog will be the first they have ever even heard of them. In many ways it is our own family that has kept me from blogging about our adoption to begin with. I haven't wanted to push people away, or make them uncomfortable. I haven't wanted to "stir the pot" so to speak. In many ways Shaun and I have been extremely hurt by the words and actions of others, but at the same time we have felt so loved and encouraged by some many people. A friend of mine, Elizabeth, sent me the dearest email a couple of moths ago regarding our adoption. And on tough days I will go back and read that email over and over. It came at a time in our adoption process when I had so much doubt and was so scared. I know God laid it on her heart to write me that letter because He knew that I desperately needed the encouragement at that time.
After reading all of this you probably hope that I go back to NOT talking about our adoption much. Still, I want to share every moment of doubt, encouragement and hope as a wittiness to the amazing things that God is doing in mine in Shaun's live through this process. We are honored to be His servants and pray that through out this process our words, our motives and our actions are pure of heart and glorifying to Him.
Shaun will be the first to tell you that when something is really hard for me, or really painful I get very quite. Unless you are Alli. My sister/personal therapist. And when it comes to our adoption the emotions are so great, the pain so real, that it just feels like too much to even speak about. There have been many nights when I have just broken down. I have gotten so overwhelmed with confusion, frustration, questions, grace and consuming love that at times I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. How grateful I am for my Heavenly Father who carries me through this heart wrenching process. For my husband who cries with me and stands up for our family and for our decision to adopt. For my friends who cover Shaun and I in prayer, and who have given their money and time to assist us in our journey. Adoption is not for the faint of heart and as Shaun and I have learned, it is not for the weak in spirit either.
We have had two different potential adoptions happen over the last four months. Obviously, neither of them worked out but both of them have left Shaun and I a little scared. The first one, I received a call one morning back in June as I drove to our church for vacation Bible school. It was regarding a 10 day old African American boy in Florida. I immediately called Shaun at work and gave him the information that I had been given. With his voice shaking he said a quick prayer for us before hanging up the phone to call the attorney. We were told upfront that the little boy had irregular brain activity and asked if we would still be interested. Shaun never hesitated to answer, "Yes, we are interested". A side not about Florida adoptions...there is no waiting period after papers are singed for the birth mother to change her mind. For six amazing hours I thought (being completely naive) , that sweet boy was ours. Then Shaun called me to tell me that the birth mother had changed her mind. There was this huge part of Shaun and I that was devastated and incredibly hurt. But at the same time there was another part of us that was happy for that birth mother.
Our second potential adoption happened just last week. My cousin called me after talking to a former coworker who's daughter was currently fostering an 11 month old little girl. She had been born at 25 weeks gestation and even though her first birthday is just a couple of weeks away she currently only weighs 12 pounds! Shaun and I checked out some pictures/videos of her and were drawn into her big black eyes and her sweet smile. Due to her premature birth we knew before we even called that she had a few sever medical problems. She was obviously very small, she has had 18 surgeries in her eleven short months of life and she needs the help of a vent to breath at night. These things of course made Shaun and I nervous, but still we had gone into this saying that we would be open to every situation, so we called the foster parent Friday night and spoke to her for over an hour. She gave us all of the information she could and we told her that we would talk about it an call her tomorrow. Shaun and I talked a lot that night. The next morning as I was getting out of the shower Shaun came to me and told me, "We couldn't give her what she needs, Melissa". In our hearts I think we had realized that about thirty minutes into the conversation with her foster mom the night before. Still Shaun and I believe that little girl was brought into our lives for a reason and we are excited to have the chance to be prayer warriors for her and her foster family.
Other than being left heart sick over these two potential adoptions, Shaun and I have struggled with adoption related issues with various family members and friends. We understand that a lot of people think adoption (especially domestic) is only something that you do when you cannot have children of your own. And we also understand that adopting a child that is biracial or a different race all together will forever change the look of our family. And that is hard to wrap your head around sometimes. However, while we understand all of the concerns it is still hard to be going through such a HUGE thing and never have close family ask you, "how's it going?" or "where are you at". It is almost like they are scared of the answer. They are scared we are going to say, "Oh, it's going great. We pick up our drug addicted, black baby tomorrow". For some of them, reading these two stories about our potential adoption experiences on our blog will be the first they have ever even heard of them. In many ways it is our own family that has kept me from blogging about our adoption to begin with. I haven't wanted to push people away, or make them uncomfortable. I haven't wanted to "stir the pot" so to speak. In many ways Shaun and I have been extremely hurt by the words and actions of others, but at the same time we have felt so loved and encouraged by some many people. A friend of mine, Elizabeth, sent me the dearest email a couple of moths ago regarding our adoption. And on tough days I will go back and read that email over and over. It came at a time in our adoption process when I had so much doubt and was so scared. I know God laid it on her heart to write me that letter because He knew that I desperately needed the encouragement at that time.
After reading all of this you probably hope that I go back to NOT talking about our adoption much. Still, I want to share every moment of doubt, encouragement and hope as a wittiness to the amazing things that God is doing in mine in Shaun's live through this process. We are honored to be His servants and pray that through out this process our words, our motives and our actions are pure of heart and glorifying to Him.
When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Galatians 4:4-5
Out Of Diapers!
Last Saturday John Whitten turned two! I had been tossing around the idea of potty training him for over a month now, but just honestly I was too lazy to commit to doing it. When we potty trained Lillian we locked ourselves in the house for a week of potty boot camp and that worked really well, so I just figured that was what I would do with John Whitten. But who really wants to lock themselves in a house for a week, sticking your child on the potty every thirty minutes, singing potty songs, doing potty dances and cleaning up a gazillion little pee puddles. Still, I knew that he was ready so Saturday night I talked to Shaun about just biting the bullet and doing it and he agreed that John Whitten was ready.
On Sunday morning we stayed home from church and let John Whitten run around naked (he is a nudest to begin with, so he loved this part), and set him on the potty every thirty minutes. Lunch time rolled around and to mine and Shaun's surprise he had not had one accident. Lillian had a make up soccer game that afternoon at 1:15, so we decided to just go ahead and put John Whitten in underwear. I am not a fan of pull ups and think that that absolutely hinder the potty training process. That has been my experience any way. I took him to the potty before we left, once at the soccer game and then again when we got home. Fast forward to Friday and he has gone a full SIX days in underwear with only ONE accident! And that one accident was completely mine and Shaun's fault. We got our wires crossed on who had taken him to the potty when we were over at my parents house. I had been forewarned that potty training boys was much harder than potty training girls. And I was prepared for bribing, begging and pleading...not to mention extra laundry and mopping up puddles all over the house, but instead I am happy to say that John Whitten's potty training journey has been short and sweet. I think he was just ready and I happen to hit the "sweet spot" as my friend Katrina puts it.
*while John Whitten's little bottom looks SUPER cute in big boy underwear, I have to admit that a little piece of my heart is breaking. Every milestone and accomplishment is bittersweet for me. I am so proud, but at the same time I am reminded of how quickly my baby boy is growing up. I will miss diapering and wiping his sweet little bottom.
On Sunday morning we stayed home from church and let John Whitten run around naked (he is a nudest to begin with, so he loved this part), and set him on the potty every thirty minutes. Lunch time rolled around and to mine and Shaun's surprise he had not had one accident. Lillian had a make up soccer game that afternoon at 1:15, so we decided to just go ahead and put John Whitten in underwear. I am not a fan of pull ups and think that that absolutely hinder the potty training process. That has been my experience any way. I took him to the potty before we left, once at the soccer game and then again when we got home. Fast forward to Friday and he has gone a full SIX days in underwear with only ONE accident! And that one accident was completely mine and Shaun's fault. We got our wires crossed on who had taken him to the potty when we were over at my parents house. I had been forewarned that potty training boys was much harder than potty training girls. And I was prepared for bribing, begging and pleading...not to mention extra laundry and mopping up puddles all over the house, but instead I am happy to say that John Whitten's potty training journey has been short and sweet. I think he was just ready and I happen to hit the "sweet spot" as my friend Katrina puts it.
*while John Whitten's little bottom looks SUPER cute in big boy underwear, I have to admit that a little piece of my heart is breaking. Every milestone and accomplishment is bittersweet for me. I am so proud, but at the same time I am reminded of how quickly my baby boy is growing up. I will miss diapering and wiping his sweet little bottom.
NO diapers on this tush.
for whatever reason, he likes to wash his hands AND brush his teeth after going potty.
He saved us, not because of the works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5
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