Reindeer Cookies

Have I told you just how much I love the 2-3 age? I love the pretend play, the sentences, how Olivia can play for hours on her own, her interest in books, the questions, and just about everything else that comes along with being a two-year-old. Don't get me wrong...we have our bad days, but everyone does.
It's been a delight being home with Olivia these past couple of days. One of things I love is that she understands Christmas this year. We bought her a Nativity set and we talk about baby Jesus every night. I was so excited the first night we talked about baby Jesus and his birth. Right after this discussion Olivia started playing with the set. She said, "Hey Jesus..do you want some mac and cheese?" Then she had Mary say, "No, baby Jesus doesn't want mac and cheese. He wants chicken nuggets and fries." Okay..so we still have a long way to go.:) The point is that she knows who Jesus is and that it is his birthday. I want her to grow up knowing why we celebrate Christmas. Sure, I think it's okay to talk about the reindeer and Santa. I think it's okay to talk about giving to others and doing acts of service during the holiday season (and all year)....but the real focus should be Jesus. So, even if baby Jesus is ordering mac and cheese, I know that Olivia understands that Christmas is about Jesus' birthday. It's a time to celebrate because of Jesus...not because of Santa or presents.
Today Olivia and I decided to make a bunch of cookies. She was just precious helping me push the dough of the sugar cookies down onto the tray. We were trying to make reindeer cookies and she actually wanted to pinch the sides of the dough in to make the shape of the reindeer faces. Here are two pictures from our baking adventure...just disregard the messy kitchen.:)

Perfect day

All I've ever wanted in life is a healthy child (or children) and an amazing husband. I have both..I know I'm blessed. I also know that I'm such a dork because I often say to Jeremiah, "This is all I've ever wanted. I'm so happy." He makes fun of me by saying it when he knows I'm thinking it. I'll admit it...the past few weeks I've been kind of grumpy (although..I'm almost positive Jeremiah would say I've been extremely grumpy). As you know, we are adopting and it's been an emotional journey thus far. I've come to the realization that God is in control of our adoption. Thank goodness I'm feeling like myself again. I don't want to be grouchy or annoyed around the people I love. I want Jeremiah and Olivia (and everyone else) to see God's love radiate from me. I want them to see how much I adore them because they are truly all I've ever wanted in life.
On a different note, I had the day off today. I had such a spectacular day with Olivia. It was one of those days that I wanted to last forever. The weather was perfect and we had a blast being together. First, I took Olivia to the soccer fields. She'd never been to an actual field before and it was fun to watch her kick the ball around. After Olivia ran around for a bit, she went and sat down on the sandbag (the one that holds the net down). She said, "Mommy..I'm tired. I take a nap now."


After we played soccer we went to the lake for a picnic. We ate lunch and then played with her toys for awhile. Olivia took our blue blanket and turned it into the ocean and used some leaves for the sand. Then she told me that her dolls were going to the beach. She also heard birds chirping and we talked about how birds eat worms. Then she said, "Mommy...what do worms eat?"
I love this age! Every second I'm with her I just want to squeeze her. I could watch her play all day.

Best Summer Ever!

Today was my last day of summer break. I'm going to be honest, I did tear up a bit when I was feeding Olivia breakfast this morning. And...then I did tear up again when I was putting her down for a nap because I treasure the cuddle time we have before and after her naps. We've had an absolutely wonderful summer. I tell Jeremiah all the time that I could definitely be a stay at home mom if the opportunity was given to me.:) It's not an easy job, but I do enjoy being home with Olivia.
Every time I get down about leaving my girl, I just think of the parents in Africa right now. Have you read this article: http://news.yahoo.com/tortured-choice-famine-child-lives-170128855.html. It is heartbreaking. I can't even imagine what those parents are going through. Those parents would give anything to be where I am right now. It has definitely made me more thankful for what I have. While I can be sad that I'm not with Livi every day, I'm definitely praising God for the life He has blessed me with.
So to end on a positive note, I'm going to list the highlights of my summer break (in no particular order):

1. Spending every single day with Olivia
2. Watching Olivia grow up over the past months-I can't believe the phrases that come out of her mouth! It's amazing how much a child can change in just a few months.
3. Listening to Olivia sing songs at lunch time and when she wakes up from her nap.
4. Laughing, laughing, and more laughing with Olivia every day. She is hilarious.
5. Seeing Olivia dance at the wedding we were at last weekend.
6. Spending a night in St. Louis to celebrate Jeremiah's 30th birthday (He doesn't actually turn 30 until September).
7. Having a date night with Jeremiah for our anniversary.
8. Spending numerous days at my parents' pool.
9. Our vacation to Hilton Head with my entire family.
10.Watching Olivia watch fireworks for the first time.
11. Walking on the beach with Jeremiah
12. Watching Olivia play in the ocean with my dad
13. Sitting on the beach with just my two sisters.
14. Spending a few days with my mom and Livi
15. Watching Olivia play with her cousins
16. Hanging out with friends from high school
17. Hanging out with friends from Champaign
18. Receiving our USCIS letter with our fingerprinting date
19. Receiving numerous financial donations for our adoption
20. Picnic lunches at the lake with my girl
21. Finishing most of our dossier paperwork
22. Meeting new friends through adoption
23. Hearing Olivia say, "Mommy when is our baby boy coming home? I hug him and kiss him." Also when she says, "Ethiopia is in Africa. Where baby boy's mommy and daddy go?"
24. Going to the Cardinal's game with friends
25. Spending numerous days off together as a family.


There are so many more memories from this summer and I could go on and on. I'm just so thankful for the blessing of being off in the summer. Now..I just can't wait for next summer. Maybe I will have both my kids home with me by then!?:)

Winnie the Pooh

Jeremiah, Olivia, and I went to see the "Winnie the Pooh" movie last night. We thought Olivia might be a little young to sit through the movie, but we wanted to try. The movie was only about an hour long and she loved it. It was fun to watch her face light up as she watched the movie and saw the characters she loves to read about. We decided to get her some popcorn because it was her first movie. Olivia kept her hands in the popcorn the entire movie. It was sweet to watch her because she only took out one piece at a time.
When the credits started rolling, I put Olivia down on the floor. She looked at me (with a quivering lip) and said, "More...I watch more Winnie the Pooh." I told her that it was over, but we'd watch it again. The entire way home she was sad. When we talked about the movie (or asked her questions about it), she started to tear up! We got home, put her pj's on, and then started to put her to bed. Olivia lost it and starting hysterically crying. I hugged her and told her to use her words. All of the sudden she blurted out, "Want more." I said, "What do you more of?" Between her cries she blurted out, "I want more popcorn." Oh my gosh...we were trying so hard not to laugh. After Jeremiah explained that we could have popcorn another day, she stopped crying and went right to sleep.
We thought she was sad because the movie was over, but she was actually upset because we threw the remaining popcorn away.

Uh oh...I go pee pee on the floor.

Many of Olivia's little friends have started the potty training process. I decided that I would start trying to potty train her after we got back from Hilton Head. The night we got back we got out the potty and made a huge deal about it. She sat on it one time and then decided she didn't want anything to do with it (and this lasted for about a week). Then we went out to lunch with Ava and Nicci and Olivia watched Ava go potty on the big potty. Olivia decided that she wanted to sit on it too. For the last week, Olivia has sat on the potty but hasn't gone to the bathroom. Of course we've been praising her like crazy for just sitting on it. We got a huge jar of M&M's and told her she would get three every time she went potty. She wanted the candy, but didn't care enough to go potty. On Monday, Jeremiah and I were in Target with Olivia. She saw a Cinderella barbie doll and wanted it. We told her we would give it to her if she went pee pee on the potty. Olivia was thrilled. When we got home she held the doll, sat on the potty, and then within one minute she went to the bathroom. We started clapping and dancing and she said, "Cinderella doll!" Now I always thought it was silly when people gave their children rewards for going potty. I thought that it was just a natural thing and that I wouldn't need to reward my children for going potty. I was wrong...the Cinderella doll was a great motivation for her. So after Monday I thought she would go potty on the potty chair...but again, I was wrong. She has sat on the potty numerous times and has never gone again. We still tell her we'll give her M&M's, we bought her this cheap toy microphone (like Grace has), and my mom even bought her big girl underwear for a reward. Olivia was excited about the underwear, but she still won't go potty.
Yesterday, I decided that I was going to take her potty multiple times during the day but I would also leave her diaper off. I thought that she would tell me when she needed to go potty (after we talked about how to tell me if she needed to go). She went from 8:30a.m.-10:00a.m. without going to the bathroom. I took her at least three times during that time and she didn't go. About 10:00a.m., she looked at me and said, "Uh oh..I go pee pee on the floor." She had gone on the floor and on her blanket. I know every child has accidents, but I don't know if Olivia is ready for potty training. I'm going to keep trying to get her to go, but I'm not going to push it. She's going to go when she is ready. I just hope it's before she starts first grade-ha.:)

My girlie girl

My parents are taking us to Hilton Head to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. Isn't it nice that they are taking us, when it's their anniversary!?:) I can not wait to spend an entire week at the ocean with my family. Olivia and I went to Target today to get a few items for our trip. She had me cracking up the entire time we were in the store. Here are a few things that I heard her say while we were in the dressing room-I was trying on clothes and she said, "Mommy, that cute." I asked her if she liked my outfit and she said, "Yah...that cute."
Olivia was looking at me and said, "Mommy, I so wonderful." Later on she said, "I so cute." I guess she doesn't hear us compliment her enough at home-ha!
As we were walking through the clothing racks she said, "Mommy, I want boy look at me." Then she started saying, "Boy..look at me!"
When I was looking at shampoo she said, "Are you happy?" I told her I was very happy. Then a few minutes later she said, "Mommy..are you so sad?" I told her I was happy, not sad.
Then we started walking down the food section and she was belting out the song, "Jesus Loves Me" as loud as she could. The rest of our Target experience consisted of Olivia singing a few different songs, shouting "Hi peoples!" to everyone we saw, and talking about everything she wanted ("I want take that to beach" and "Oh my gosh, Mommy..I take that beach.").
She was an absolute doll and I enjoyed being with her. She sat in her cart for at least an hour when she said, "My booty is so hot." I started laughing and asked her what she just said. She repeated it again. I don't know where that came from!
I hope the people in Target thought she cute and not annoying. But...I'll never get enough of this little girl of mine. :)

New Adoption Blog

Hey! Jeremiah and I have created a new blog just about our adoption journey. I'll still post on this site about Olivia and other family things. If you want to follow our adoption journey, please go to this site:
www.ourjourneytofour.com
*If this site is down, please go to www.ourjourney2four.blogspot.com.

Thanks!
Kortny

Delightful Day

I really enjoy being home with Olivia. We had the most delightful day together today! We went to the park and then had to run many errands. I took her to lunch and we had such a great time. Olivia heard music playing in the restaurant and she started dancing. My girl loves to dance. It's hilarious. I think she has better dance moves than I do!
It's one of those days that I just tear up looking at my girl because I know that God has greatly blessed me. I know that Olivia isn't perfect, but she is perfect for me. As I drove home today, I was thinking about my number one responsibility as a mom. My first responsibility is to help her know God and the great love He has for her. Of course I want Olivia to be a great person. Of course I want to teach her to be respectful and care about other people. Of course I want to teach her the importance of contributing to her community and serving others. However, the most important thing for me is to teach her about Jesus and hope that she accepts Him into her heart. It's crazy for me to think that I love Olivia so much, but God loves her more than I do. I'm thankful that I go to Quest and the people will help me teach Olivia about Jesus and the love He has for her. But..at the end of the day, it's my job to teach her about accepting Christ in her life. This feels like such a big responsibility, so I know that I need to start teaching her about His love now.

Flower Girl

Olivia was the flower girl in my cousin Jake's wedding. Jeremiah and I were a little nervous about how she would act because well..she's 2! She did a great job at the rehearsal (maybe it was because I told her I would give her ice cream if she went down the aisle-ha!). There was a mix-up with what time Olivia needed to be at the church for pictures so she ended up not getting a nap on the actual wedding day. Since she didn't take a nap, she was very crabby for the wedding pictures. Olivia would not take pictures with the bridal party. I was embarrassed, but then I realized that I can't expect perfection from a 2 year old.:) I tried to think of everything I could to get Olivia to take a picture with the bride. So, I had to bribe her again..this time with a cookie. If you know me, you know that I am usually very consistent and I don't give in to her. However, I really wanted her to take a picture with the bride. Finally, she took two pictures with the bride and then shouted, "Cookie!!!!!" Oh gosh..I felt like such a bad mom.:) The wedding took place a few hours later and Olivia did a fabulous job. She literally ran down the aisle to my dad and me. We only have video of her running to us, but my parents took some pictures. I'll have to post them later. It was wonderful getting together with my cousins and extended family members. We don't get together enough! Olivia was a doll at the wedding and she even stayed up until we got home at 11:00 (again..I felt like a bad mom for letting her stay up late!). Overall, the day was great. I'm thankful for the time we got to spend with family.

Snuggling with Daddy at the hotel

My family


I need to add a few things about Olivia: She is such a delight to be around and she's started saying hilarious things. My dad said, "Oh my gosh" the other day and now she says it too. The other day Jeremiah brought out a toy baby bottle that she hadn't seen in a few months and she said, "Oh my..gosh Daddy!" Today we were at the store and I asked Olivia if she wanted oranges and she said, "Oh my gosh....oh my gosh...yes, mommy!" It's adorable how she responds with "Oh my gosh" when she's excited. I just love being home with her and hearing her talk all the time. She has grown up so much in just the last week. Here are a few other phrases I've heard her say this week-"Mommy, follow me. I'm going home to see my Daddy at home," "Mommy, my baby is so hot(she was in the sun)," "I dialing for pizza," "Ba-Pa go work to see peoples," and "Mommy, let's run really fast." She runs through the house saying things like, "Mommy..what you doing?" and "Mommy..what is that?" The other day she asked me, "Why is that blue?" She has said many other adorable things, but these are just a few of the phrases I want to write down for myself. I know you probably aren't interested in what she is saying, but I plan to print this out for her someday and I want her to read about what she was doing at this age.

Last Day of School!

Today was my last day of school. I was jumping around our house this morning before I left. Olivia was looking at me like I was crazy (I can't imagine why..ha!). I was shouting, "Last day of school! Last day of school!" Then I started telling Olivia that we were going to be together all summer. I know she has no idea what it means but she got a huge smile on her face. She knows that we are going to be together and that's all that matters to me! That past few weeks have been stressful for me. I've been getting to work early and working until late at night on school stuff. I'm so glad it's summer! Summer means time to spend with my hubby and Livi. I'm so thankful that I am a teacher and I get the summer off.
Even though I'm happy that it's summer, I'm sad that my students won't be "my students" anymore. I developed strong relationships with this class and I am so sad to promote them to 4th grade. They were an awesome group of kids. Sure, I had some challenging kids, but I loved them. Isn't it funny that the kids who cause us the most stress, energy, and time end up being some of our favorite students? I am really going to miss these kids. I had amazing parent support this year too. Over the past few weeks I've had multiple parents e-mail me or send me cards of encouragement. Today I had a parent crying when she was saying goodbye to me. She was crying because I've had two of her daughters and she appreciated me as a teacher. I don't tell you that to brag, but just to show you how wonderful the parents have been this year. These parents have just reassured me that God wants me to be a teacher. Even though it's hard leaving Olivia, I'm making a difference in the lives of children. What a way to end the year!

*Olivia was the flower girl in my cousin's wedding this weekend. I'll have to post pictures soon. She was hilarious as she RAN down to my dad and then dumped her flower petals out on the floor. Priceless-I love her so much!:)

We are adopting!

May 23, 2011

As most of you know, Jeremiah and I are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. We are absolutely thrilled about this and can’t wait to bring our child home. I thought I would write a quick update about our adoption journey thus far. We’ve just started the process, so I don’t have much to blog about. However, I want to document (for myself) each step in our process.

Jeremiah and I met with our home study caseworker last Monday. We feel like she’s on top of things and will be extremely helpful throughout our adoption journey. She gave us at least 6 folders full of information to fill out. In addition, she gave us a gigantic packet of articles to read. I think we’ll be doing a lot of reading this summer! We spent at least 10 hours individually filling out our marital assessment and autobiographies this past week. We also completed the application for the Babyfold. I’m glad we spent so many hours completing the paperwork last week. We were able to turn in our application and get the process started! Our caseworker said our local home study should take between 2-3 months. After that, our home study is sent to a few different places. This could take another 2-4 months.

Today, Jeremiah and I attended an all day adoption training class. It was insightful and gave us a better understanding of the adoption process. We were given multiple packets about Ethiopia and international adoptions. In addition, our caseworker talked with us about various things including what needs to be done before we go over to Ethiopia (for us and our child), what medical/emotional/social needs our child could face, how to develop proper attachment with our child, and what needs to be done after we come back with our child (birth certificate and finalization of citizenship). We met 4 other couples that are starting the international adoption process. One couple is adopting from Ethiopia. I really enjoyed getting to know them and learning about why they were adopting. I love learning about people and hearing their stories. We left with numerous “homework assignments” and we felt pretty overwhelmed. However, I think every couple felt this way. We are taking a break from the paperwork tonight, but will start filling out our international adoption agency’s application tomorrow. I’m so thankful that school is almost over. I will be able to devote more time to the paperwork and read more of the articles our caseworker gave us. Our next home study visit is on June 6. I believe our caseworker is going to start interviewing each of us separately. I think she will also take a tour of our house to make sure it’s safe for our children.

I’m so excited that we’ve started the paperwork, completed the required training, and already have our 2^nd home study date set. It’s a long process, but I know it’ll be worth it. I just can’t wait to get our referral and actually see our child’s sweet little face. Obviously, I can’t wait to hug my child and tell him/her “Mommy loves you!” However, I know it will be awhile before I’ll be able to do that. J I feel so blessed that God has placed adoption on our hearts. Believe me when I say that I know this journey will not go perfectly or smoothly. I know there will be bumps in the road and at times we will become frustrated. In spite of these things, I am just so thankful that God is picking me to be this child’s mommy. I can’t wait to add another little one to our family. J

*While we were sitting in our training today, I was thinking about all the little kids overseas (and in the U.S.) who don’t have a parent to love on them. Many kids only have contact with a caregiver for an hour a day and that is not enough. These poor kids need a mommy and a daddy to love on them. Ugh..it just makes me so sad. When we got home tonight, I snuggled with Olivia on the couch. I put her to bed at her normal time, but I could hear her talking in her crib about 45 minutes later. I sat outside her door smiling at the sound of my little girl talking to herself in her crib. Then, I went into Olivia’s room and picked her up. I hugged her tightly and rocked her while thanking God for my precious little girl. I am so thankful for moments like this when I can love on my girl. I can’t wait to love on my future child and let him know how much I care about him too. I don’t normally go into Olivia’s room after I’ve put her to bed. But..today I just craved spending time with my daughter. I wanted to be close to her and just thank God for what he has given me.

Happy Birthday, Olivia-Part 1

A few people have asked me to post pictures of Olivia's birthday and birthday party. This week is very busy with report cards, conferences, and I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Friday (yuck). So here are a few pictures to hold you over until I can do a post about her birthday party. It was supposed to be just a family birthday party, but then we decided to invite our Life groups and a few families who had little girls around the same time Olivia was born.
March 29, 2011-

Olivia saw her birthday present and she loved it. She played in the tent the entire day!


April 2, 2011-Olivia's birthday party
She made this precious face when someone new came in the door.


She really wanted cake at this point and did not want her picture taken.:)


I love how Olivia is looking up at Grace. She was thrilled to see Grace at the party.

I don't have time to post any other pictures. Hopefully, I'll post more next week! Enjoy!

Let the birthday week begin!

Olivia loves Elmo. She also loves Elmo's goldfish, Dorothy. When I got home from school today I saw this on the counter...

Jeremiah bought Olivia her very own Dorothy! I thought it was adorable that Jeremiah took Olivia to the pet store and bought her a "Dorothy." He even put the number 2 inside of the bowl because there is always some sort of object in the real Dorothy's bowl. How cute is my husband!?:)
After Olivia showed me "Dorty" she kept saying, "Livi hold you Dorty" over and over again. Before she went to bed tonight she said, "Nigh night Dorty" and blew her multiple kisses.

Since Olivia is turning two tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to kick off her birthday week with painting her toe nails for the first time.

As I painted her toes yesterday she just kept yelling, "Mommy...this toe too!" She was grinning from ear to ear as I painted her toenails. Jeremiah said that today she pointed to her toenails and said, "Daddy..pink toe toes." When I called them this afternoon she tried showing me her pink toenails through the phone. I heard her saying, "Mommy...Livi pink toes toes!" I put her on the counter next to "Dorothy" when we got home from the store tonight. She turned to the fish and said, "Dorty...Livi pink toe toes" and she squealed with delight.

Oh, I love how the simple things make my daughter so happy. How am I lucky enough to be this little girl's mommy!?
Tomorrow my baby will be 2. I took the day off and we are going to celebrate all day long!:)

With a thankful heart...

Olivia is going to be two years old at the end of this month. What a blessing she is to us! At church last week I was talking to a few women who have older kids. We were talking about how much fun two year old kids are and one lady said, "This age is perfect. They can talk with you but they don't give you much attitude." I laughed and said, "I agree. This is such a wonderful age, but I hear the phrase 'No No!' multiple times a day." Then I said, "But..I'm just so grateful to hear those words." We feel so blessed to have our daughter even on the days when she is screaming and throwing a big temper tantrum in public. Before she was born (and for numerous years before we even thought about trying to have a baby) we prayed that God would bless us with a healthy child and he did. Over the past two years, we've had some tough days. I wouldn't trade a single day because Olivia is the perfect child for us. That's why, I try really hard not to complain (sometimes I do..because I just need to vent:)) about Olivia. I know that I am more than blessed to have a healthy child who is testing her limits. You have no idea how many times I stop and thank God every day for this blessing he has given to us. Sometimes in the middle of her crying I stop and just smile. Right then and there I praise my God for giving me this little girl. I am just so thankful that I have a daughter who is healthy, happy, spunky, and full of energy. And...I can't believe that God trusted me enough to be be her mommy. I can't wait to celebrate her and the miracle that God created.