Conversations with Isaac

Isaac's speech has really developed well the past few months. Although he has a hard time pronouncing words because of his former cleft palate, he still communicates pretty well with us, which makes life a lot easier. :-)

Of course, his favorite word at this point is "no", often pronounced "NO!" with some serious temper thrown in. However...he sometimes makes a game out of it when he's feeling silly. Here's how our conversations with him often go:

Me: Isaac, do you need help?

Isaac: No.

Me: How about 'no thank you'.

Isaac: No ee-you. Nee-hul, (Rachel), help!

Me: Do you need some help?

Isaac: Help.

Me: (sniff. sniff.) Isaac, do y0u need a diaper change?

Isaac: No.

Me: Are you telling the truth?

Isaac: No. Neehul, poo!

.....And thus go our days.

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Wohoo - I'm Back!

Hello everyone - it's me, your long-lost blogger! After a very loooong blogging break, I'm back to regular posting. Of course, what the term 'regular' means is rather debatable, since it's always busy around here, and it can prove a challenge to find spare time. But, I will try my best to keep you all informed on current goings-on around here. :-)

Isaac is continuing to do marvelously. He makes me laugh on a daily basis! His cute little phrases and new words are so simple and refreshing to hear. I can't tell you how much fun having a three year old around has been. :-)

And all of you know we're adopting again, right? The whole process has just sped along so quickly this time, and it looks like we're headed to China again next February/March! This time, though, I am staying home to be with Isaac. A little sad, yes, but I am reminding myself that after taking a trip to China less than a year ago, I have nothing to complain about. :-) I simply can't wait to bring Joshua home!


It's definitely fall around here - this morning it was nineteen degrees. Ugh. But lately I have been getting up early, while it is still dark and everyone else is in bed, to enjoy either a cup of hot tea or coffe while reading my Bible. And that is cozy!


And that concludes this post. By the way, if anyone is interested, head on over here to enter a fun apron / tea towel giveaway!

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Taking a break

Because of the business of the summer, I will be taking a blogging break for the next few months! I have SO much to do and not enough time to do it....(sound familiar?). So I will be back in the fall. Thanks everyone for your sweet comments - I love hearing from you!

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4th of July At Our House

Our 4th of July was great! We had several families from our church over for a big cookout in the afternoon; and then we all headed over to the football stadium at the highschool to watch fireworks. All in all, it was a busy but exciting day ~ now I'm looking forward to next year!

Jonathan gave some of the girls horse rides, which was fun.

Miss Bethany, looking very patriotic!

Since we had so many people, we had everyone eat outside on the porch. The weather was beautiful so everyone really enjoyed themselves.

~Three lovely young ladies ~

Kayla's mom sewed matching skirts for all the girls of their family - isn't it pretty??

Little Jasmine with her mom.....looking SO cute!

A rare family photo. We all bought $3 patriotic shirts at Wal-Mart for the 4th; and most of the families that came wore them, as well!

Most of the children and adults went for a wagon ride together in the afternoon.

Courtney and Kayla right before the fireworks started!

Me...Rachel.

Isaac was really afraid of the fireworks, since this was his first time seeing them! He clung to Mom, Courtney, and me the whole time. One of the girls graciously donated a blanket for him to hide under while he was on my lap. Mom had to pass him to me after a while because he was nearly cutting off her breathing via arms around the neck!! Nevertheless, he looked very cute in his patriotic shirt, and it was a special day since it was his first Independence Day as an American citizen.

Thank you A, C, R, and D families for such great fellowship! We loved having you over and look forward to next year......hopefully little "Wu" will be joining us then, too!

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A Quick Update

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful summer week - it has been very hot here, but we are beginning to get some summer rains, which has been nice.

For those of you who have been asking, Isaac has been doing great since his cleft palate surgery. He is almost through with his required 3 week liquid diet, and is speaking so much more clearly! It looks like he has healed completely, except he does have a small hole in the roof of his mouth where some of the stitches pulled apart. We were told that this may close up on its' own, but if it doesn't, the surgery to fix it is very minor and will not be any time soon! So it looks like we're surgery free for a long time.

We are keeping very busy preparing for our big 4th of July celebration this weekend. Plus, our garden is in full swing, and we are beginning to harvest onions, potatoes, peas, and carrots - a nice reward for all our hard work out there!

Things on the adoption front are going well - we went out as a family a few days ago for a required family doctor appointment, plus we had to get Mom, Dad, and Courtney fingerprinted to make sure they weren't criminals. And on the paperwork goes...........

We are expecting an update about our new little guy sometime in the next few weeks, so I'm anxiously awaiting that!

So, what has been keeping you busy so far this summer? I'd love to hear from you!

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