Intentions

(I stole this from a blog where it had been stolen from another blog...I love it!)

‘Intentions are wonderful things. They are the starting points, the defining moments of our lives. But in and of themselves, intentions are wholly inadequate. As a Christ follower, it’s easy to mistake intention for action and stirrings for solutions. I sometimes give myself credit for being a pretty remarkable human being just because I feel angry about injustice, pain over suffering, or empathy in the face of hurt. But even the strength of my intentions is not an accurate indicator of whether or not I will take the time to act, to put faith to work, to be the difference that Christ has empowered me to be. Defining moments are only as good as the lifestyles they translate into.’ (Nancy Ortberg)

And it continues...

The ear infection, that is. Sean decided to take Tate to the doctor today because he just hasn't been himself. He is whinier than usual and had a rough night a couple of nights ago which is not common for him. We just know him, and knew he wasn't "right". Anyway, the ear infection remains. Ugh! We got a stronger antibiotic and a follow up appointment in 2 weeks. Hopefully this medicine will get rid of the infection. I just feel so bad for the poor guy, he is obviously not feeling well! :(

A Weekend Away

This weekend we went up to Waverly to spend some time with family and meet our new niece Kayla Ann Peakin! It was such a nice, relaxing getaway and great to be able to ALL go as a family! We had a wonderful time and the kids had a blast as well! We spent a lot of time cuddling with Kayla! Thank you Mike, Sarah, Leah and Kayla for having us in your home! :)


Kayla is Sean's God Daughter...
She is such a peanut!

Leah was so sweet and "motherly" to Tate...here she is pushing him on the swing...

Leah Elizabeth...

While at the Peakins', Tate learned how to do "Ring Around the Rosey"...here is a short video of that and also of Tate having fun while Leah pushes him on the swing. As you can see, Tate hasn't quite gotten the hang of the "...we all fall down!" part of the song! Ha.


My Montage 4/27/08

Kayla Ann

What an absolute sweetie Kayla Ann is!!! I have never seen a more peaceful, quite baby! I couldn't keep my hands (and lips) off of her! She is such a little doll...and LITTLE! My goodness, she felt like a feather! Here are some pictures I took of her (just a few of the almost 100!!!) while we were visiting!

Her hands are so tiny...

Leah is so in love with her little sister!

I mean SERIOUSLY....

COULD HE BE ANY CUTER?!!!!!

Octopus

My mom has called Tate an octopus for several months now...pretty much since Tate could reach for things. She says (and I agree!) that it seems like he has as many arms as an octopus because he's so grabby.



Anyway, it's fitting that Cassie got Tate an octopus bath towel. Tate LOVED it and ran all over the house wearing it after his bath the other night. Here are some pictures of our little octopus.

Oops...

I had big plans to blog tonight with some cute pictures I got of Tate yesterday. When I came down to get on the computer, I remembered that I left my camera in Tate's room! Darn!!!! Tate is a SUPER light sleeper and I am not even exactly sure where in his room the camera is so I know I would wake him up if I went in there and dug around for it. So now I am not sure if I will get the chance to blog until Sunday because we are heading out of town this weekend! Sorry! I will try to blog tomorrow morning, but don't know if I'll get a chance.

Earth Day!!!

Here Tate is sporting his special shirt just for Earth Day!

Unfortunately, at daycare, they did spin art. Apparently he was wearing a cover up, but you would never know by the looks of his shirt after we picked him up! I am hoping the paint is washable! Ugh!

Sunday...

We just hung out on Sunday at Mom and Dad's. Tate and I got to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Shingledecker at Weed Park for a little while as well. He got all kinds of goodies from them and enjoyed having Grandma read him his new book. :) He loved running all over in the grass and could have cared less about the jungle gym! The we grilled out at Mom and Dad's and then headed home. We didn't get home until 11:00 pm. I was TIRED! It was such a great weekend and it flew by! It's always great to spend time with family, if only Sean had been with us, it would have been perfect!

Tate had such a great time spending time with family this weekend...he loves it!

Tate being his crazy self...

Little Ayla Lyn being SUCH A DOLL!!!

Grandma reading to Tate...

Saturday...

We visited the DeCooks on Saturday and had a great time visiting while the kids played. Tate and Ava were funny...they even held hands for a while! :) It was a short visit, but I was happy to be able to see them. Then, Tate and I headed to Bettendorf High School to watch Brigg in the Grand Championship of the TKD tournament. He did AMAZING!!! He got first in board breaking, sparring and forms and then was in the top 6 of EVERYONE in the Grand Championship. He was up against several older people and higher belts. It was quite an accomplishment and we were all so proud of him. He is one amazing child! Check out the video below of Brigg doing his form in the Grand Championship round.

Tate looking super masculine in Ava's cherry sunglasses...

Ava June...

Brigg in the Grand Championship round...

Brigg with his TKD teacher and his 3 trophies!

Brigg TKD

Tonight or tomorrow...

I will post. I promise. I have so many fantastic pictures from this weekend that I cannot wait to share, but have not had time. Sean has been on the computer constantly studying for his finals tomorrow. He has informed me that he won't be on the computer tonight so my plan is to blog tonight. Sorry this is taking so long! :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!

I stole this from someone else's blog. It is so true and definitely something I need to remember!

"Everybody wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
-Tolstoy

"Tactoe"

Tate picked up his John Deere Tractor book yesterday and lifted it up to show me and said, "tactoe". We have never worked with him to know what a tractor is so I am assuming this is something he picked up at daycare. It was so cute. We were so excited that he knew what it was that he kept saying it all night. Just like with all other new words he says, he will probably say it constantly in the next few days and then it will get old and we'll barely be able to pry it out of him. :)

Chilling Statistics

It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.)

The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million… to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers… (The current population of Russia is 141 million)

Every day 5,760 more children become orphans

2,102,400 more children become orphans every year in Africa alone

Every 15 seconds, another child in Africa becomes an AIDS orphan

There are an estimated 14 million AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa (a number higher than the total of every under-eighteen year old in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland combined)

This figure is estimated to reach 18 million orphans in Africa alone by 2010 (only two and a half years away)

8 out of 10 children orphaned by AIDS lives in sub-saharan Africa

Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…

Each year 14, 505, 000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen

Each day 38,493 orphans age out

Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family to belong to and no place to call home

In Russia and the Ukraine, studies have shown that 10% - 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen

These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals

Another Russian study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…

I wanted to share these statistics that I found. They are chilling and heart breaking. It is so hard for me to fathom this truth. It is something that we hear, but to many, they're just numbers. As a parent and as an adoptive parent, these are not just numbers to me. Each number represents a soul that deserves love, family, stability. These statistics really affected me and I thought it necessary to share them so we can all be reminded that these aren't just numbers. These are hearts, lives, souls, children of God. They need men and women willing to make a difference, willing to speak for those who do not have a voice. This is a reminder to pray.

“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.”
Psalm 82:3-4

WHAT?!!!

Tomorrow is already Sunday?! I feel like I just got done working for the week about 2 hours ago! Where did today go? I have a loooooong list tomorrow so I know it will fly by too. This makes me sad. :( I hope this next week flies by because I am really looking forward to next weekend. Tate and I are heading over to Muscatine for the weekend. We will be leaving on Friday when I get out of work and staying until Sunday. Brigg has a TKD tournament in the Quad Cities on Saturday and Tate and I will attend that for a while and also while we're there, we will be visiting the DeCooks for the day! In addition to some family time with the Stewarts and Burbacks, we will be visiting Grandma and Grandpa Shingledecker at some point in the weekend as well! It will be a jam packed, busy weekend, but a lot of fun! The only thing that would make it better is if Sean were able to come too! Now all I have to do is just make it through this week!

Sean's last week of school is this week as well. He has finals next week, but no class. After that, he is off until the fall!!!!! We are BOTH so excited for this much needed break which will hopefully allow for us to have some more family time. Next thing on Sean's agenda is to hopefully find a new job this summer...something in a hospital getting some experience in his future field of work. Hopefully he'll find something soon.

Well, it's after midnight and I should be sound asleep! I had best be heading to bed or I will not accomplish anything tomorrow!

Ready to be healthy...

Tonight we just hung out around the living room...Tate and Daddy wrestled around, we all played with Tate's Mickey Ball, we sang, read books and just relaxed. It was nice. Tate did not want to go to bed! He finally went down without a fight, showering us with his ever so sweet, wet kisses and talked himself to sleep at about 9:15. We are looking forward to a fun weekend around the house. Hopefully Tate will get healthy again and so will Mommy. We both are still not 100%. What a sick winter it has been ! UGH! Tate seems to be on the road to health and I am feeling much better than I did earlier this week. I can't believe it's the middle of April and it's looking like a possibility of snow tomorrow! I am beginning to wonder if spring will ever come!!!!

Tate's 18 month well baby check up...

Tate and Mommy got to go see Dr. Timboe today. Tate had his 18 month check up including shots...ugh! I have been SOOOO sick for the last 2 days and decided I had better go to the doctor to make sure it wasn't strep or something. Anyway, turns out Tate had a double ear infection and pink eye! This is the first ear infection Tate has ever had. I would say he did pretty well going 18 months without one. Although, I felt terrible when I heard that he had one because I kind of just brushed off his whininess these last several days just thinking he was cutting a tooth or something...also he's been a drooling machine, so I thought that was the problem. He hasn't been feverish at all and hasn't acted sick aside from a little bit more whining than usual. When Dr. Timboe looked at his throat, he said that his throat was really red too, so the drooling was probably because he has a soar throat! My poor baby! We got him some antibiotics and gave him some Motrin ASAP when we got home and suddenly he was acting like a gem! Probably because it's the first time he hasn't been in pain for days! I feel like such a a bad mom! :( At least I know the problem now.

As far as my health goes, they did a strep test and it was negative. I was honestly surprised because I have had the worst soar throat and fever for the last 48 hours. My whole face hurts...my ears, my sinuses, my throat, my jaw was even hurting! Weird! Anyway, I hope I am on the mend because I have missed 2 days of work this week already and I don't think they'd be too thrilled if I called in again. I am feeling better tonight than I have in the past 2 days which is probably a good sign. I actually sat up awake on the couch for 2 1/2 hours (this is unheard of in the last 48 hours!) watching Idol Gives Back...sobbing. Apparently, all I needed was a good cry to get myself feeling better!

WE HAVE ANOTHER NIECE!!!!

Our niece, Kayla Ann was born this morning at 8:10 to Mike, Sarah and her big sister, Leah! She weighs 6 lbs 8 oz. and is 18 1/2 inches long. She and Mom are doing great! We are so excited to meet her and are so happy for Mike, Sarah and Leah!

Still Sick...

I am still feeling just awful! Tate has his 18 month well baby check up today, so I called the doctor's office to see if our doctor could check me out too. Good thing he can! I no longer have the stomach problems, but I have not been able to get rid of my fever for nearly 36 hours. It feels like it's going away, but never completely does. My throat is soar, my ears and sinuses are soar and plugged and I have NO energy! I slept in bed yesterday until nearly 6:00 pm and then was able to stay up for a couple of hours before I headed to be for the night. I was up 3 times in the night last night to take Ibuprofin and tossed and turned the rest of the night. Hopefully when I go to the doctor today, I will be able to get an antibiotic that will zap this bug I have! Ugh!

Seriously!

I don't know why I cannot get healthy. I was up all night with a fever and ANOTHER stomach bug! I am still not feeling right in that area and to top it all off, I have a sore throat and feel like I could just lay in a heap and die! This is my 4th stomach flu this year!!!! What is going on?! I don't think I have ever had a stomach flu more than one time in a year. Ugh!

Family Time!!!

We had a great evening. Finally the weather was nice!!! After we got off of work, we ate dinner and then went to a park with Tate. He had such a great time!

Tate decided he would do some rock climbing...

He found it quite exciting looking at Mom through the round window...

Playing at the park tired Tate out big time! He DID NOT want to leave. He could barely stay awake though.

He looked out the window at the park and cried as we drove away...and the mean Mom that I am took a picture of it! I know, I am terrible!

When we got home, we decided to give Tate a bath. He was starting to become the "stinky kid" at daycare I think! Ha. He was SO tired, but I got out a new bath toy for him and he was super excited. My cousin got this little floating racetrack for him 2 Christmas's ago and he was too young for it until recently, but now he's a great age to enjoy it!

It was a great night and Tate crashed right after his bath. I am so excited for the warm weather to stick around! I can't take the cold and snow anymore. Tate is going to have so much fun this spring and summer.

Just rambling...

It snowed today...a lot. I mean, there is snow all over the ground! What on earth is going on?! I don't remember ever having this much spring fever before!

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday! Woohoo! I am so ready for the weekend. I need some Tater time. My house, our floors, our grocery situation, our bathroom and our laundry are all being neglected as well! I have a feeling they will be getting the short end of the stick this weekend and Tate will be getting most of my time! I will try to get it all done though, but don't know how realistic that is.

I am battling a nasty cold that has been ongoing for about 4 days now. I feel run down and just plain yucky! I will be in bed by nine tonight and I am SO HAPPY about that! I can't wait to get a good night of sleep!

That is all for now...nothing too exciting here.

Tate's Recent Moves

Tate and I had a dance party tonight. It seems to have become a nightly tradition. This child LOVES dancing. His new thing is "dancing" in circles. Then he sometimes gets dizzy and falls. Also, after the Tate Tornado tears through the living room all day, it's not easy to dance around all of the debris. I should probably start picking up the living room at night BEFORE we dance! Check out his moves in the video below.

Also, here are a few pics of Tate being cute and silly from tonight.

He was actually doing a "floor routine" in this one!

tate dancing

Proud in Pink

Sean took this picture of Tate this afternoon. Apparently, Sean walked in on Tate prancing around in my pink snow boot! Looks like it fits!!!

Our Scholar

Sean was inducted into an honor society at Grand View on Sunday. He is doing so well in school and still managing to make time for his family and work. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments so far. I truly don't know how he does it! He is so dedicated and such a hard worker...he absolutely amazes me. It was so good to see his efforts be rewarded a bit on Sunday. His parents came down as well and then we all went out to dinner and had a great time! Only one more year left in this leg of his schooling! My how time flies!!!

Here are some pictures just after the ceremony.