Special video

UPDATE - sorry the link wasn't working! Please try again!

In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah Psalm 44:8

I would like to direct your attention to a great video posted today on the website of a special family. I encourage you to also read the post entitled "Our son."

The Spin Doctor

As I have mentioned before, Matthew doesn't show any interest in cute little songs with hand movements or naming body parts or anything like that...but boy does he like to spin things! Spinning bowls, balls, cups, wheels...he loves it all! We end up turning over toys and strollers so the wheels are exposed....because that's where the party's at! Here's a video of our spin doctor (sorry it's dark!)

On a side note, when I went in to get him up from his nap he was standing up and his pants were off. I asked "Matthew where are your pants?" and he looked down at them laying by his feet. Then I asked "Who took your pants off?" and he immediately picked up Lamby and handed him to me. Little tattletale!

Designer's Challenge

Token baby shot to appease my mom! In PJs from GA Theresa!
Family room (we do have blinds now!)
Kitchen

Uhhh...Matthew's playroom? Dancing with the Stars Practice Room? Or Living/Dining Room?

We moved into our new home the day we accepted Matthew's referral, so home decorating has taken a back seat to the adoption...and to being a mama. The family room and kitchen are really the only rooms somewhat finished, so I have my work cut out for me. Not only do I need to think about furniture but, as you can see from the photos, wall paint. The paint is going to be a huge job because the rooms flow and have some different architectural features...and I better stop on that because it makes my head spin! From where I stood to take the photo of the family room is the same location I stood to photograph the Living/Dining...so you can see from one into the other.

SO...all you HGTV fans, I am accepting any ideas! I like the styles of West Elm (Store) and Nicole Sassaman (Designer). I like muted colors...the way a spa feels. I was thinking of an off-white leather couch for the LR and a espresso colored dining table for the DR. But I am also on a budget since we still have another (or maybe many more!) adoption to pay for! So if any of the 50+ people who visit daily love to decorate, please share your talent!

Can't touch this - update

After a couple times of showing Matthew the "Can't touch this" video of the wreath,I decided we would give it another try. I opened the front door and showed him the wreath, and he got a big silly grin on his face. He tentatively touched it, so I took his hand and ran it over the branches... he laughed!

Does anyone else think that Matthew's facial expression in the header photo has a strong resemblance to the guy in that old commercial with bitter beer face?

Does anyone else think that the little baby marching across the caterpillar in the ticker above is moving WAY TOO FAST???

Can't touch this!

Matthew loves to touch EVERYTHING, so I was surprised at his reaction when we received this beautiful wreath in the mail from the Johnsons. I'm too busy (read "lazy") to put this to music right now, so while you are watching it just sing MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" to yourself.

Helping the Orphan

I will be doing a post soon about how many potential adoptive parents are scared away by adoption costs...and I wanted to post this video...perhaps as an encouragement that behind the agency fees, country fees, travel fees, and processing fees are little lives...real little lives waiting for love.

Only by God's grace...

Matthew has not been having good sleeping nights lately and then today his naps took a turn for the worse. A turn for the worse!!! It was like someone snuck in and gave him some Vivarin or No-Doze or whatever it was that people took in college to stay awake during finals. Not to say that he wasn't dog tired...just that he wouldn't sleep. Let me say that I now understand why sleep deprivation is used as TORTURE in some countries (I was actually wondering today if I would rather undergo sleep dep as torture or have my fingernails pulled out one by one). I get frustrated when he is awake night after night, and irritated when I can't make appts/plans because I never know how his night will will affect his day, and selfish when I have to sleep on the little twin in his room that feels like it's giving me bed sores. Normal? Probably. Ugly? For sure. So I was thinking about all of this in the shower tonight when this thought came to my mind: "Lord, I don't want Matthew's sleep to get better until you change me!" This is not to say that I don't want my baby to be rested and healthy...but to say that I want my baby's mama to look more like Christ. Compassionate. Unselfish. Long suffering. A Servant's heart.

Only by God's grace can one say, "Please don't take away the thorn in my side until You use it to take away the sin in my heart." Only by God's grace.

UPDATE: Sometimes I think his sleep issues stem from the high doses of caffeine running through his veins??? He slept decently last night...was AWAKE at 5:30. I did finally get him to go back to sleep after his 6:30 bottle...in my arms. Then at 7 something before his eyes were fully opened, he "bounded" (not exaggerating) out of my arms, had crawled to the end of the twin bed, and was trying to bounce his bed with his arms. This was literally within seconds of waking. Maybe even milliseconds. He is just one busy boy.