Thanksgiving at Mim's

The only picture I got of two of my children the entire day.

Brooke brought an activity for all the babies to do....little turkeys...how cute are these!!!! She's totally a teacher.






Finally, the wishbone....Rinny's wish should come true. Side note: please look at Rinny's outfit. This is the outfit she refers to as her "Snow white costume," it looks nothing like Snow White, but none the less. She's a little obsessed with it. She would wear it everyday, if I let her. 

Dream....

A vivid one. He came right into my arms and wrapped himself into me. He had super soft, squishy skin and put his head right on my shoulder, held out his arms to me. I put my nose right in his neck (like I have been SOOOO wanting to do) and smelled and loved right in there. He smelled so yummy. His hair was all wispy and soft and blowing around. He had way more teeth than I expected and was a lot lighter than I had thought when I was holding him. It was awesome. We were in his foster home with his foster mother and she was so sweet and beautiful. I crawled around with him on the floor and he was pulling up on the bench of the table, smiling a lot. I didn't want to wake up. 

Good news is coming this week, friends....I am claiming it :)

Baby food

Rinn and Creed went grocery shopping with me and they found the stuff on their picture lists.Rinn had a really hard time finding the avocado that was right in front of her face. Apparently, the picture I had printed didn't look like the ones at the store. 

Rinny and Creed got the seeds out of the butternut squash. Icky.


Carrots are a little clumpy but Jude will probably be used to eating some texture. 
The butternut squash and the sweet potatoes turned out the smoothest. Perfect. The sweet potatoes are what you get the most bang for your buck for, I think. 
This is like the best invention ever. These are so cool. They are these ziploc freezer bags (you can buy refills)that come with a little air pump thingy and you can suck the air out of the bag prior to freezing. So awesome, this is the find of the week for sure. You gotta run out and get some of these. 

During a meltdown, Micah told me to focus on things that I have control over. Hmm....welp, really I have control over nothing but I can do some things to keep my mind off of the worry and try to get stuff done and focus on God's provision and protection. 

So, with that in mind, I am OBSESSING about being ready for baby boy. The last two days the kiddos and I have been making baby food. Right now my house is smelling of garlic, ginger, and ham because we are making "jook." Jook is a Korean rice porridge that lots of the babies eat in Korea. So, we are making it and freezing some for Ju-Ju bee. 

This waiting thing is hard, friends. Waiting for anything, any kind of word, a phone call, an email, any piece of paper, anything. It is all OUT OF MY CONTROL. I'm totally in a sadness mode right now....pity party. In the meantime, while in that mode, I think I will obsess about things I can do around here. Better get busy. While I am at it, I think I will blog obsess too (three blogs in 30 minutes is a bit out of control). Oh well, bear with me. PS: Nearly all my Christmas shopping is done too!

Bal-uh-lay

Rinny started a "bal-uh-lay" class on Tuesdays. Oh my gosh, she is the cutest thing ever. We went to the studio just to try out one class to make sure she would go into class without crying, and would be able to pay attention and participate. Creed and I watched her through the window they have. So sweet. She was concentrating SOOOO hard trying to do just what the teacher asked each time. She walked right into class and ate every second up. She is about a foot shorter than most of the girls and (her opinion and mine!) the cutest and most graceful. Since then, she has asked everyday "Can I go back to my bal-uh-lay class?" Alright, apparently this is going to be an every Tuesday affair. I think it will be good for her to have something that is all her own, no bubby, no lil' bubby, no mommy....all Rinny.

Madame Butterfly

Creed's operatic debut. Love it. I like to say that Creed got called by a "scout" or an acting recruiter last week. Ha. A little boy that they were using had to drop out at the last minute so through a friend of the director we got hooked up and Creed was cast in the role of Madame Butterfly's son. He is loving every second of it. So professional, so attentive, and perfect really. The director and other actors are just amazed at his attention. So, remind me again why his attention goes a million different directions during school at home? Hmm...interesting. 

I am super duper proud of him, though. The production is tonight and tomorrow. When mim said she was coming, he asked "so, will you bring me flowers?" Nice. 

Fun times with a manly man....

Somebody better watch out if we don't get our paperwork soon.....I'm sending this guy to confront them! (yep, no news today)

Rejoice

My wonderfully amazing friends...

They thought of every little detail to add to the blessing. My FAVORITE....Bella Rosa Chocolate Chip cake...yummy.


My friend, Marcelle, remembered that my favorite food (seriously...well, it's tied for my favorite with smores) is chocolate covered strawberries.
Umm....well kind of an inside joke but I thought I really needed to post this just to confirm that I have some of the dorky-ist friends (not pictured but none the less dorky behind the lens, photojournalist and marathon runner Jen Nev).

Rinn was seriously an angel. Everytime she opened a gift she would say something nice like "ohhhh...Jude really needs that" or "OH! That's great!" Such a sweetie pie.
This is my "Oh, look how fancy I am" look with my new Rowdy bag....you gotta admit, I do look fancy-smanshy.
I had to post one pic of my sis Mika. I know (as several of you mentioned) I look nothing like her (ie: the skinny legs, long fingers, curly hair...all around cuteness). She was making comments throughout the shower that were cracking me up. She knows me way to good. 
All the fun stuff for Ju Ju Bee. 

"Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn" Romans 12:15

These friends have been through the best of rejoicing and the sadness of mourning with us during this process. I am so incredibly overwhelmed with God blessing me by surrounding me with some of the best people in the whole world. It truly is amazing. My friends never get tired of blessing and giving, it is incredible. 

Through this process I have grown so close to my friends and family. It has been incredible times of joy and intense times of sorrow and through it all they have stood closely by. Going through something like this is someone else's life is incredibly taxing. At times, they might think "okay, enough is enough..." but my friends and family have not done that. 

At this shower, I really felt like many of those there have prayed for Jude just as I have, honestly. With their whole being. Bringing Jude home safely has been a journey for all of us. A journey of prayer and faith. 

God is so good. So amazingly, abundantly, overwhelmingly good.