The Best

It was, quite simply, the best birthday and Christmas ever.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

(Except that none of us got sick!)

The days were filled with laughter,

and snuggles,

and Lego,

and playing,

and movies.

It was fabulous and I am so thankful!

The boys playing the great Canadian game, Crokinole.

Hannah has been asking for new sunglasses for about four months

ever since our dog chewed hers up.

Every. Single. Day.

Who was happier about this present - her or me?  Hard to say!

A birthday spent with family and dear friends.  What a gift!

I treasure these moments!

On the Move! {Adoption Progress}

I've been waiting to share about some happening around here until they actually were happening...

...and now is that time!

A couple of weeks ago, I started to really feel convicted about how little I have been praying for Olivia to be home quickly.  The truth is, I was scared to pray for that because I knew that God could do it!  And I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with the idea of four.  Total selfishness, I know.  So I let things float along at whatever pace they went, not being too pushy, just kind of going with the flow.

Anyway, I was listening to a message from a women's conference and in it the speaker, Leslie Ludy, shared about their adoption and how they prayed it would go so quickly and then it did.  I was reminded of our own stories, of times when I know that God stepped in and allowed our process to go more quickly than it would have otherwise.  I knew I had not been doing all I could to get Olivia home.  So I prayed that day and asked God to step in, speed things up, and bring her home.  She needs to be home - she has been diagnosed with a serious medical condition and even though we hope it is not what has been diagnosed, we need to have her evaluated so that we can treat whatever is going on.

Not three hours later, my phone rang.  It was our adoption agency calling.  I had sent in our home study the day before so I expected that it was confirmation about that.  Instead, it was a conversation about the possibility of expediting Olivia's adoption because of her serious medical diagnosis.

Wow.

Ok then.  I was not prepared for that!  We learned about what we needed to do next, and we started to work on getting a letter from a doctor supporting our request to expedite.  We had filed our I800a with US immigration and thankfully when I called and explained that we were hoping to expedite, they bumped up our fingerprint date and we had that done earlier this week.  Finally, just yesterday, everything came together and I sent off all our documentation to USCIS along with a request to expedite in an email.

Less than two hours later, I had a reply: our expedite request has been APPROVED!

Wow again.

USCIS quotes I800a approval time as 90 days, so we have significantly reduced the time we will need to wait to bring Olivia home.  It has taken me a couple of weeks to get my head around the fact that it won't be next summer like I thought.  There have been a lot of sleepless nights - I find myself waking up at 3am and not being able to get back to sleep for hours.  There are just so many unknowns ahead and so many changes.  YES we chose this and YES I very much want her home!!!  But now that I have experience with this a little bit I know that it may or may not be an easy transition, and there could very well be challenges ahead.  I'm okay with that but if I am honest I still struggle with fear.  I know this to be true: whatever lies ahead, whatever medical challenges or attachment issues or sibling rivalry or lack of sleep may come, we will be okay because we are held safe in the hands of Almighty God.  We will not walk this journey alone.  I cling to that in the middle of the night when waves of fear wash over me and threaten to overwhelm me.  We will not walk this journey alone.

There is one other aspect to this change that could cause us to fear or freak out: money.  When we started this journey we made a plan for how to pay for the adoption.  That plan included having time to get our taxes back and many more months to save.  Its now looking like we will have a different timeline (although I still don't know how much longer we really have).  It is tempting to fear and worry about where we will get the money.  I am choosing instead to trust that God's hands are all over this, and He can and will provide what we need, when we need it.  I am excited to see how He works.  We have applied for several adoption grants but have yet to hear back.  We have set up a fundraiser website as family and friends had inquired about donating to our adoption fund.  We are so grateful for every donation that will help bring Olivia home!!  If you are interested in donating, here is the link:

Bring Olivia Home - Hunt Family Adoption

We are hoping our dossier will go to China very soon so that things keep on progressing with the adoption.  I'll keep you posted!  We thank the Lord for this special little girl who is soon going to be OURS!

Keep On Keepin' On

Last week I had the pleasure of spending some one-on-one time with Matthew.  I hate that a lot of my one-on-one time with the kids comes because of doctors appointments, but...what are you going to do?!?!  We take what we can get in these busy times and try to make the most of it!

So Matthew and I headed out of town to his annual allergist appointment.  After several years of these appointments I've learned to keep my expectations in check and to take a "wait and see" approach.  The first year I thought his allergies would all be gone and I was so upset when it turned out they hadn't. The doctor suggested that Matthew may have outgrown his egg or milk allergy enough to try a food challenge (where they feed him tiny amounts of the allergen to see if he reacts).  But he had the skin testing done and sure enough, all the bumps appeared.  And they were all still huge.  Still allergic to eggs, dairy, peanuts and tree nuts.  Nothing has changed, and we will just keep being vigilant to keep him safe.  We will keep on keepin' on, and we will pray that next year we will finally see change!

I was really glad we were going to see the allergist actually because he is also the doctor that manages Matthew's asthma.  For the last couple of years, his asthma has steadily been improving and hasn't been much of a concern.  But in the last month we have noticed him struggling more, coughing a ton at night, and in the week before the appointment he had woken up in the night four times coughing so hard.  One time he coughed so hard that he threw up :(  And two days before his appointment, we had a very scary episode.  I heard him cough a couple of times, then he started to kind of yell.  I thought he was going to be sick so I grabbed a bowl from the bathroom and ran into his room.  He was making a funny noise and I tried to put the bowl in front of him, but he smacked it out of my hand and started trying to say something.  He was shouting, "I need....I need...." but he couldn't get any more words out.  I realized with a start that he could not breathe.  He could not breathe even enough to get the words out.  I ran and got his inhaler and after I gave it to him he started breathing normally again.  It was so very scary and I made him sleep on the couch with me for two nights just so I could be close to him.

Thankfully seeing the allergist helped.  We now do a breathing treatment in the morning and at night (and will for a while) and he is much better.  Phew!  Breathing issues are scary.  I'm so glad that we have access to good medical care and medicine that can help him.  I'm so thankful to be the one waking up at night to take care of him.

December

December has been pretty awesome so far!

Hardly any sickness.

This little (big) guy turned 6.  Unbelievable!

These two have been playing a lot together 

and love to snuggle up on the couch :)

These two are still the best of friends

and have loved playing with new Lego and Star Wars toys.

We had a great (but cold!) time

picking out a Christmas tree

to cut down.

Things with the adoption are moving right along...

potentially at a quicker pace than we anticipated!

Our days are spent doing paperwork,

applying for adoption grants,

making canvases and necklaces for my Etsy shop,

and praying for our little girl.

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact

that NEXT December

will look MUCH different!

I can hardly wait!

Personalized Adoption Canvas

It's true - I have adoption on the brain :)  It's hard to think about much else these days!  I find myself daydreaming and imagining another little one running around here.  I long for that day!

I've been working on some new canvases for the Etsy store and here is the first: a personalized adoption canvas!  It can be made in any color scheme, for any country!  At the bottom of the canvas I can add your child's name and "Home Forever" date.  For me, this verse sums it all up: I prayed for each of my precious children, and He answered!

Check out the link below the picture if you are interested in more info :)

One Little Canvas

She Turned Two

Our littlest had a birthday this week.  Across the world, she turned two.  We talked about her all day long, wondering what she was doing, if her foster family celebrated with her, hoping she is happy.  We look forward to the birthdays to come when we will celebrate with hugs and kisses and smiles.  But this one...it went by quietly.  I'm not going to lie - it was a hard one.  I've never missed a second birthday before.  The last couple of weeks, I've been feeling that ache so much more.  I'm ready to have her here with me.  I'm ready to get started on the adventure of four.  I want her home.

But we're not there yet.  We have been at a standstill with getting our home study finished.  It has been beyond frustrating for me and I think has been the most difficult time of all four adoptions.  I actually feel pretty blessed to have made it to our fourth international adoption before experiencing any real difficulties!  Everything is getting worked out and we hope that our home study will be finished by the end of this week or early next week.  I will breathe a sigh of relief when that is done!

My heart feels heavy tonight.  It's hard to write about this.  Sometimes adoption just feels heavy.  I realize that out of everyone, I get the easy part.  I get to be mom to these amazing kids.  But there is so much more to adoption.  There are birth parents who don't get to celebrate these birthdays with their kids.  There are foster families who know this is the last birthday they will celebrate with a child they love.  There are kids who have questions that cannot be answered, who have hurts inside of them that cannot always be seen.  There are birth parents who have had to face situations and decisions I literally cannot imagine having to make.  Adoption is a beautiful, amazing thing.  But I cannot forget that it is born out of loss.  As my little ones grow, I am more and more aware of this truth.

I'm blabbering.  But these are the thoughts on my heart this week, as we celebrate Olivia and look forward to having her with us as our very own.  There are others thinking about this precious little girl, too.  She is such a treasure!

Fall Photo Overload :)

So prepare yourself for an overload of cute kid photos :)  This is the best time of year and my favorite activity to enjoy with my family in the Fall is walking.  Its so simple,  I just love being outside, with no agenda, no phones, no noise (well, apart from the kids...that noise follows us everywhere!!).  We found a beautiful local park that someone had told us about that had these really cool bridges and lots of room to run and play.  It was perfect.

One Little Canvas {Hand-Stamped Necklaces}

I am so thrilled to be able to share my latest creations!

I have been wanting to learn how to hand-stamp jewelry for a long time

and I finally found the time!

Now that I'm getting the hang of it, I have to say

it is so much fun!

Here are a few necklaces that I added to my Etsy store today:

Each circular pendant is hand-stamped on shiny stainless steel

and comes with an 18 inch ball chain.

Cost is $18 (plus shipping)

New designs will be added soon!

Every purchase goes towards our adoption fund - 

click below to visit my store!

One Little Canvas

One Little Canvas {Update}

I have been so surprised by how much I've enjoyed creating some different and special order canvases for my Etsy store.  I think sometimes it is easy to get so focused on being a wife, mother, cook, cleaner and all that good stuff that my more creative side is left behind.  I have really loved having this chance to learn new things, take a chance, and create something!

A few recent creations:

I can't wait to share something else I have been working on.  I've been learning a new skill, working on a different sort of canvas entirely ;)  It's something I've wanted to do for a while and it has been so much fun branching out in this way.  New items will be added to the store soon!  Click below to visit the store!

One Little Canvas

Making Room

So we're not moving.  And we are adding another child.  Hmmmm.....

This information led to lots of discussion around our house!  We are very blessed with a finished basement with space in it.  We plan to put an additional bedroom and hopefully bath (or half bath) down there in the coming years.  But for right now, well....our kiddos are still little!  I don't want them down there without me at night, and I don't want to be down there with them upstairs.  We talked and prayed and then - A GREAT IDEA!

It was not actually our idea, it came from my brother-in-law.  I am SO glad he had this idea!

We had this weird open closet in the living room (because there used to be a third bedroom there before we moved in) and he suggested we close it up and open up the space on the other side of the wall - in the kids bedroom!  It wasn't a ton of extra space but it was just enough for us to be able to get another set of bunks in there!  This will hold us over as we work on getting another bedroom built in the basement.

In true Brad fashion, he got right to work!

This is the extra space that was opened up in the bedroom:

Hannah has been {still} struggling with sleep and we wondered if a bigger bed would help her.  We got another set of bunks and Brad had them put together in no time!  The kids were so very excited.  

I have to admit that seeing all these beds brought on a slight panic attack :)  Four kids is a LOT!  But three of the beds are already filled and we are surviving just fine, so I'm hopeful that adding one more won't do me in!

We are enjoying our house more than ever as we find more and more ways to make good use of the space we have.  We continue to purge and get rid of the ridiculous amount of stuff we have accumulated over the years.  There really just is no need for all the toys and clothes and stuff.  So off it goes!  It is freeing!  We can make this work...and on the bright side, maybe our kids will find camp and college easier because they are used to close quarters!

Still "In the Waiting"

When we began our first adoption, a song on the radio grabbed my attention and my heart.

I will worship in the waiting
I will walk with this sand beneath my feet
Though the winter wind is blowing
The ground is not frozen underneath
I will worship and not grow bitter
'Cause I know You see the end of it all
And with the spring will come the rain
And I'll see what was gained
In the waiting

FFH - In the Waiting

This became the prayer of my heart during that time - that I would cling to the Lord, worship Him and not grow bitter, and that one day I would see what was gained in the waiting.

Here we are, back in the waiting again.  We started this adoption in the summer, and life seems to be flying by at an incredible pace.  I know our sweet girl will be here before we know it!

I find my heart so much more at peace with this process now.  There are fears, for sure.  I wonder how I will handle four little ones (just like I wondered how I would handle three!!).  I wonder how Olivia's health will be and what is down the road for her.  I wonder how our kids will adapt to another little sister (especially Hannah).  But covering all those fears, and calming them when they become overwhelming, is a peace that God has got this.  He has brought this little girl to us, and us to her, and He will not abandon us if (when) it gets hard.  So I rest in that.

This weekend we finished a ton more paperwork.  Our dossier documents are almost complete!  Our home study paperwork is just about finished.  We have one visit with our case worker and then hopefully she can get our home study done.  I have struggled with the paperwork this time around, much more than the other times for some reason.  I think that it's just that life is so much busier and I have been so tired from a certain little someone keeping us up at night :)  But we are getting there and that makes my heart happy.

We were blessed with a video and new pictures of Olivia a few weeks ago.  After finishing up some paperwork on Friday night, I sat down and watched the video again.  It is such a gift!  To see her with her foster mother, to know that she is loved and cared for, to see a little glimpse into her life...it's just so precious to me.  She is absolutely adorable, seems a little spunky, understands so much, and is obviously attached to her foster mother.  I fear for her little heart and how difficult the grieving may be for her.  She will be 2.5 years old when we bring her home, and that is a year older than any of our other children at homecoming.  I wonder what will be different, what will be harder or easier.  It will be different.

I am so thankful that whatever lies ahead, we know that the Lord will walk with us and help us.  We will not do this alone.  He is so faithful to us!  And I can't wait to get our girlie home :)

I Can Smile at Babies Now

I sat down in the church pew, set my purse and Bible beside me, and glanced around.  The sanctuary was slowly filling up and soon the service would begin.  As the music began, a young couple slipped into the pew in front of me.  The woman carried a new-looking infant carrier in her hand and a diaper bag was slung over her shoulder.  Cradled carefully in the man's arms was a precious little baby.  The couple sat down and the man gently lifted his tiny daughter to his shoulder.  Her eyes met mine, and I felt a smile tugging at my lips.  This tiny little baby brought a smile to my face.

And then suddenly, I realized that I was smiling.  A lump rose in my throat as it occurred to me that I was smiling....at a baby.  That may sound like an odd statement, but to me this was an amazing thing.

You see, for many years, babies broke my heart.

I'm not sure exactly when it began, but somewhere along the way as we began our journey with infertility, tiny little babies became a deep source of pain for me.  Seeing them in church brought a feeling of dread.  Oh, no, not now....hold it together....don't start crying...can they tell?  Can everyone see how deeply this hurts?  I tried to escape every situation where a baby made an appearance.  I felt as though it must be so obvious to everyone.  Spending time with other women was often difficult.  It was almost unbearable to hear birth stories or joking about pregnancy symptoms.  It was a club I could not seem to join.

There was a time when a friend accidentally left a little baby sock at my house.  It has imprinted itself on my mind.  A tiny, meaningless thing but oh how I cried at the sight of that tiny sock.  I wondered if my house would ever have tiny socks, or any tiny baby feet to put them on.  It felt unattainable, a dream that would never be realized.

And then something amazing happened.  The dream was realized.  Not in the way I expected, not in the way I had first prayed, but in a truly amazing and life-changing way.  Through adoption, I became a mom.  Suddenly my house was filled with tiny little socks.  And to this day, almost every time I come across a single sock - in the laundry, in the bathroom, in the kids room...I remember.  I remember and I breathe out a soft thank you.

The wounds of infertility were slow to heal.  Having a baby in my arms did not magically erase the pain of not being able to get pregnant.  But day by day, God was showing me the beauty of the story He was writing for me.  It was far beyond anything I could have imagined.  Being a mom was what I wanted, more than anything else.  The joy of motherhood, having a little one to love and teach and cherish - and then two little ones, and then three - brought healing in ways I could not explain.  I found myself settling into this beautiful, crazy, unexpected life and most surprisingly I found myself desperately thanking God for saying no to all those prayers in the years before.

I cannot say it is completely gone, and it creeps up on me at the most unexpected times.  At baby showers, when everyone offers their best pregnancy advice, I feel that old familiar feeling coming over me.  I don't belong.  It is as though I have a sign on my forehead, or perhaps just a giant "I".  Infertile, unable to have a baby.  It is difficult to even write that, because it is such a strong feeling, and one that I have held so close to my heart.  That feeling that everybody knows that my heart is twisting, my stomach is lurching, and I am fighting to maintain control of the tears that threaten to spill over.  To this day, I struggle to be around tiny little babies and newborns.  There is a part of me that still hurts to know that I did not get to hold my babies when they were that age.  When friends have babies, I do not volunteer to hold them, because sometimes its still hard.  The emotions are sometimes complicated, and hard to put into words, and deep.

But it is getting so much easier.  The pain is gone, with only twinges reminding me of our journey through infertility.  I guess technically we are still in this journey of infertility, and yet, in my heart...this chapter is closed.  I have been blessed with a life that is so good that were I given the choice, I would choose it all over again.  I would walk through the pain, the uncertainty, the heartache, and I would choose this path to get to my children.

Because of that - because these children are my joy and because I have had a front-row seat to this miracle called adoption - I have been changed.  "You have turned my sorrow into joyful dancing." (Psalm 30:11)  He has been so good to us.  He has been so good to me.

I have seen the proof of His healing in my life, the miracle of wounds being bound up and repaired.

I can smile at babies now.

Things That Are Hard About Homeschooling

So...just in case you thought life is perfect here...!!!

I thought I'd share a few of the struggles that I have with homeschooling.  Sorry, no cute pictures to go with these ones :)

It's a lot of work.  No joke.  There is just no getting around this one, it really is a lot of work.  There is prep-work, and clean up, and planning.  And then there's the actual doing of homeschool.  It's hard work, and even though I love most aspects of it most of the time, it is still pretty exhausting.

The weight of responsibility.  There is always (for me) a feeling of "Am I doing enough?" and the weight of knowing that I am, for now, responsible for my kids' educations.  I do not feel this pressure weighing heavily on me all the time, but it is definitely there.  I am learning to trust that I know my kids, that I know the progress they're making, and they're on track...but it's still there.

Spending all day with three little ones.  It is an all day, every day job that never ends.  There are sometimes short breaks during the day but for the most part this is a busy season of life.  I have never been so tired.

Having time to work individually with the boys.  They are young and still need me for most of their work (although Matthew is becoming more independent all the time).  Hannah took a few weeks to adjust to the new schedule, and I'm not going to lie - it was rough.  Every day when Brad came home I was telling him that it may not be too late to enroll them in school...!  And the thing is, I really meant it.  I was not sure at all that I could do this.  It felt overwhelming to have Hannah be so needy, on my lap, whining, while also trying to teach Matthew a reading lesson.  It felt impossible.  But slowly we have found our groove and now Hannah happily plays for 1-2 hours while I work with the boys.  We are all in the same room, and she certainly comes to me to check in, or when she is done with something, and I often redirect her to a new activity.  But it is feeling much more doable.

Fighting.  Being together all the time lends itself to lots of time to work on sibling relationships :) Much of the time, they get along very well and play together happily.  But some days, it is all I can do not to lose my mind as I try to help them work out disagreements and learn how to communicate with each other.

I can't think of anymore!  Had you asked me week one of this year, I would have gone on and on about how hard it was.  Now....I'm starting to really enjoy homeschooling!  I am seeing so much growth and change in the boys this year.  Nathan is starting to really be able to hear letter sounds in words and know which letter is making the sound, and that is so exciting because now he is one step closer to reading!  Hannah learned to cut out circles this week!  Seeing their successes day by day makes it worth it.

Things I Love About Homeschooling

In no particular order...

Flexibility.  We have lots of appointments and life changes week to week for us - and that's ok! I love that school doesn't have to be at a certain time or on a certain day of the week for us.  We aim for four days of school and call it good!  I'm also thankful that we can still do school even on "sick days" when Matthew is coughing and would probably have had to stay home from school, but he feels well enough to do work.  He would probably miss a lot of school due to sickness so for us this is a great option!

Time.  We have time to just do what we want to do.  When the kids get into cutting and gluing they can do that for as long as they want and then we can move on to something else.  I like not feeling rushed.

Finding our groove.  Hannah has started really enjoying coloring, drawing, cutting, pasting and general mess making :)  It's awesome!  I love that I can work with the boys and be less interrupted, and know that she is having fun and developing skills.

Spending the day with these three.  Mostly awesome.

Seeing them learn and succeed.  Matthew has come so far with his handwriting - from hating it last year to doing it without complaining and taking pride in his work this year.  It's amazing to see!

Finding things they love to do and fun ways to learn.  I found this truck activity book for Nathan for a dollar at Goodwill and he just loves it!  He is learning numbers, shapes, practicing writing....but he doesn't feel like he's working ;)

(Took this picture the wrong way on my phone...oops!)

Planning.  I'm such a nerd.  This is one of my favorite things about homeschooling.  Oh, the planning!  I made my own blank lesson plan sheets, I easily fill them in one week at a time, and I check it off as we go!  I love knowing what we need to accomplish and seeing what we have done already.

Reading with the kids.  I am trying to be so much more intentional about reading more with the kids this year.  I made a box with our read-aloud books and also books I'm assigning for Matthew to read to me.  We have a set time for reading aloud chapter books (when Hannah is napping) and so far have finished Charlotte's Web and part of a book of train stories.  

Seeing the kids develop independence.  It is so great that now I can give Matthew and assignment to work on and he gets to it with very little help (only for certain subjects of course).  He can read the directions and knows to ask if he gets stuck.  I am then free to play with Hannah for a few minutes, to work with Nathan, to put laundry in...it's really great.

Putting some Pinterest ideas into action!  I saw this idea for putting up contact paper so that shapes could be stuck on and moved around.  Hannah loves it and it's great for practicing patterns with the boys as well!  I love when things actually work (since most don't! Ha!).

We had a bit of a rough start this year (Mommy had a pretty bad attitude and things were not going smoothly!) but now we are finding our groove and it is getting easier.  I'm so thankful we have the option to homeschool!

First Day!

It's hard to believe it's that time already - back to school!

I have been ready for several weeks and eagerly anticipating the start of a new year of homeschooling these kiddos.  I'm not going to lie - we had a rough first day today!  After very little sleep I had a headache and was not feeling up to the challenge.  But my goals this year are to be consistent, to do 4 days a week, to stick to our (loose) schedule and to remember that some days are awesome while other days are just survived!  Let's put today in the "survived" category and move on, shall we? :)

Matthew is officially a Kindergartener this year!  It was so exciting to see how much he learned last year and I am looking forward to the year ahead with him.  I hope he will continue to develop a love for reading, grow in his math skills, and discover a real joy for learning.

My sweet, crazy Nathan will be officially starting Preschool at home this year!  He is not quite ready for reading yet so we will be spending time learning letter sounds and reading, reading, reading to keep up his love for books!  He is starting the same math curriculum that Matthew uses and we will work our way slowly through the first book this year.  He is so excited to be a big boy who has his own books!  He is learning to write and is such a diligent, hardworking little guy!

Oh, Hannah!  This face just sums up my bubbly little girl!  She is so super excited about school starting again.  She will have some little activities to work on - color sorting, basic counting, shapes, learning letters, but mostly her job will be to play and to learn to love reading like her brothers!  She has started bringing me books and now will sit and listen - this feels like such a victory!  My little firecracker does make the days a little more interesting (which is a nicer word than challenging) but I would not change her for anything!

I'm so glad I get the chance to teach them!  And I'm so glad that it's nap time for Hannah and that the boys are playing on the Wii for a little while :)  Ah, sweet silence...