The Rector Family

Submitted!!

2012-02-10T15:47:00.002-06:00

I received a phone call from our stateside helper at 7:07am Thursday morning to let me know that our dossier was submitted!! Hopefully, we will be receiving a travel date in 2-3 weeks for 2 weeks after that. Lots of changes have been occurring so we're unsure of the time frame, but are hopeful it will be sooner rather than later!

For now, we are getting a list together of all we'll need to take with us and have started a stack of those things that is growing by the day. It seems very overwhelming at this point how we're going to get everything done and be ready to travel in just a few short weeks! We're trying to take it one day at a time and tackle it little by little. Some friends of ours who adopted from this country a little over a year ago have graciously let us borrow some much needed items for which we are very thankful!

We are also preparing for our garage sale that is planned for the end of the month. We have had some very generous donations of various items so we're hoping to raise the remaining funds needed for our trip. We have some pretty wonderful friends who have graciously volunteered to help us with sorting, pricing, and the actual day of the sale! We are thankful for each of you that have offered your time and help!

It's going to be a very busy next few weeks as we prepare for our trip. Will you please pray for peace while we wait for our travel date and for favor with the govt officials we'll be dealing with while in country? As a dear friend recently stated, we see God's amazing providence and intense spiritual warfare in adoption! How true this is! This is why we so covet your prayers as we get closer to traveling, meeting our daughter, and coming face to face with people who will decide if we "are fit to parent" Elizabeth! We have witnessed God's outpouring of provision for these precious children and the families working so hard to adopt them first hand and it has been absolutely amazing! We've also seen the attack of the enemy who hates to see these children adopted into families who will love and raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So, I ask my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pray earnestly for our family and Elizabeth that God would go before us, that we would represent Him rightly in all we say and do!

Prayers for the Reeves Family and baby Whitney!

2012-02-03T10:25:00.005-06:00

I'd like to introduce you to the Reeves family. They are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl named Whitney from our baby girl's birth country. They are fellow Texans and I've enjoyed getting to know and walk along this bumpy road of adoption with Tiffany. They just sent off their USCIS application and are praying for an expedited approval as Whitney has multiple heart conditions and has already had one surgery for one of her heart defects. The faster they get this approval, the quicker their baby girl can get home and get the medical care she needs!

Will you please join me in praying for this sweet family's USCIS expedited approval and for their precious Whitney's health while they wait?

Please click on over to their blog and pray for them as they work as quickly as they can to bring Whitney home!

Weekly Update #?

2012-01-31T15:53:00.004-06:00

Ok, I know I said I'd do a weekly update, but with 4 littles, homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, and all the adoption stuff to keep up with, time is a precious commodity around here. So here is a quick overview of what's been going on in the Rector family.

We're all (except Richard) sick with a nasty cold and my voice has been pretty much gone. Being voiceless has made for some interesting times while trying to keep our home running smoothly and trying to home school: ) My son has to cough after every third word he reads and my daughter is constantly having to run to the bathroom with a runny nose so all that translates into an extra long session of school lessons. I guess it's just that time of year, but it does seem like we've been sick more this season which probably has something to do with all the sugar we've eaten between Thanksgiving and Christmas and January and... well, you get the point. We've not been very disciplined about staying away from not-so-healthy foods, but are starting to get better since we want to be done with all this sickness! I just received our Vitacost order in the mail and I'm looking forward to getting our herbal tinctures in us on a more regular basis to get our immune systems up to par.

I found out yesterday that our dossier will not be submitted this week as the govt of E's country of birth has decided to wait for the first full week in February to start accepting dossier submissions. Dossiers for children under 5 can only be submitted on a certain day of the week so that means our team should be submitting it next week, Lord-willing. Although this may seem minor to some, this means one more week she's in the orphanage. Every day she spends there is a day without her here in our family and we're hoping there aren't too many more of those!

On a more positive note, Richard and I are learning the language so we can at least be able to read labels and signs while we're over there. This has been fun for me as I enjoy learning foreign languages and it seems to come somewhat easily so when we get over there I will let you know how it's going on that end!

We have to bring a photo book with us to show the judge and any other govt officials that want to see where our baby girl will be calling home. Most families seem to have theirs done by now or at least close to it and we haven't even started. So, my plan this weekend is to work on getting a snapshot of our life together. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Richard has started planting some seedlings for our garden and we are looking forward to a (hopefully) bountiful supply of our favorite veggies and a few fruits. He is the gardener in our family, and he enjoys teaching the children about how our food grows and having them work the ground with him. The kids are fascinated how a seed can become food that we eat. I'm thankful for the work and time he has put into our garden and hope he will be greatly rewarded with lots of yummy produce this year!

Well, that's a bit of what's been going on with our family! Please pray that our dossier will be submitted AND accepted next week. After that, we wait for a travel date!! I'm also working on getting an email sent out about our garage sale to raise funds for our adoption expenses as well as raise awareness about these precious children.

Pray that God will open eyes and hearts to the world of orphans here and around the world and Christians will start praying about how they can carry out the biblical mandate to care for orphans and widows!

Oh, Happy Day!

2012-01-20T19:29:00.002-06:00

As I write this, our final docs for our dossier are en route to E's birth country!! My mother-in-law, my kiddos, and I drove to the capital today to get the last docs apostilled and I mailed them off this afternoon.

Lord-willing, our package will be in our facilitator's hands on Wednesday. We are really hoping to have our dossier submitted in the next couple of weeks and have a travel date a few weeks after that. I can't believe we are done compiling our dossier and are getting closer to holding our baby girl for the first time!! We are so thankful to have this step done!

Please pray for safe delivery of our docs that are en route and for quick translation! Also, continue to pray for our baby girl and our family as we wait. Thank you all for your support and prayers!

The Golden Ticket!!

2012-01-18T19:30:00.003-06:00

I started on a weekly update for Monday then time got away from me, and I didn't end up completing it. So...I hope this makes up for my lack of posting lately: )

WE WERE APPROVED BY USCIS!!

This means that our COMPLETE dossier should be in our facilitator's hands by the middle of next week!! We actually received our approval on Monday, but just found out today when I called to check the status of our case. I should receive the golden ticket in the mail tomorrow. It looks like we'll be making a trip to the capital to get this and one other document apostilled and get them sent over to E's country. When the lady on the phone told me, I was literally speechless (if you know me in person, this is a rarity for sure, lol) and she had to repeat it! We are so thankful to God for this blessing and are continually in awe of His provision for these children and their forever families since our journey started!

The next step is to get these docs over to her country of birth and wait for a travel date!! We're hoping for March, but we'll see what the Lord's timing is for our trip. We are so excited to meet her, snuggle her, and love on her!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

Good and Not-So-Good News...

2012-01-10T11:29:00.004-06:00

So I have good news and well, not-so-good news.

I'll share the good news first. Our dossier has been delivered to our facilitator in E's country!! We are very thankful to have this huge step done and can't wait until it's translated and ready to be submitted.

Now for the other news. Shortly after I posted our update yesterday, I received a call from our senator's office. USCIS denied our expedite request. Basically that means that our approval will not be expedited and we'll have to wait for the normal processing time it takes which is usually 2-2.5 months from time of submission. We're currently at about 5 weeks since submission so hopefully soon we'll get our approval even without it being expedited! I know God's timing is perfect, but I have to admit I was disappointed to hear this. We're clinging to His sovereignty and the fact that no man can thwart God's plan. So even though this is bad news to us, God is not surprised nor does this "mess up" His timeline. We are continuing to pray for this approval and trusting Him since we can't see the big picture. Please pray that our faith would be strengthened during this time and for our baby girl's safety while we wait!

Weekly Update #1

2012-01-09T14:12:00.003-06:00

I've decided to do a weekly update to keep everyone in the loop with Elizabeth's adoption. So here it is...

-I spoke with our senator's office and sent in a medical necessity letter signed by our doctor to be forwarded on to USCIS in hopes for an expedited approval. I also left a message with a supervisor at immigration (USICS) to find out if they are going to expedite our case for medical necessity. Hopefully, I'll get a call back from him soon! I figured I'd try on my own and try to get help from our senators. The senator's office said it may take a few days to hear back since our request goes through 2-3 people before an approval can be expedited. *Please be praying for favor with those who are deciding on our case and for an expedited approval!*

-We sent our dossier off as you will remember from this post. I checked the tracking and it is in the destination city, but hasn't been delivered to our facilitator yet since today is a holiday over there. *Please pray for safe delivery and quick translation!*

-It's very hard for us to know our baby girl is waiting, each day lying in a bed for hours on end, without the kisses and cuddles we long to give her, not knowing what it means to be loved by a family. It breaks my heart to know that even if these children have good nannies who care about them, there isn't enough of them to love on each child in the orphanage. Most of these children are only held to be fed and changed, there are just too many of them for any other contact to occur. More than just physical love, these children need the hope of the gospel as we all do! To be taught who Jesus is and what his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection means for us as sinners. *Please pray that God will move hearts to action and families will step forward to answer the call of adoption that is so desperately needed for these children! Pray for us to patiently trust His timing as we wait for the day we get to walk out with our baby girl and go home! We're looking forward to that day with great anticipation: )*

-One thing we've been told by many adoptive families is not to worry about the money, God will provide! I believe it as I've already seen our great God provide for adoptive families in awesome ways! We're hoping to do a garage sale in late February so I'm going to be sending out an email to some family and friends to see if anyone has anything they're getting rid of/donating. Hopefully it will be successful in raising some funds and help spread the word about these precious children waiting for families. *Please continue to pray for the financial aspect of our journey that we would patiently trust His timing as we work to raise the money to bring Elizabeth home!*

Well, that's it for now. I will definitely post an update when we know more about our USCIS case and dossier delivery! Thank you for joining us and praying for us on this exciting and sometimes crazy journey to bring Elizabeth home!

It's Out of Our Hands

2012-01-04T10:49:00.002-06:00

It is officially (and literally) out of our hands. Our dossier is en route to the country where our little Elizabeth is right now! After all of the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into getting that paperwork done, it was extremely difficult to let it go and hand it over to the teenage girl behind the counter who kept having to call her manager to make sure she was doing the shipping label correctly:/ *Sigh*

Anyhow, I know that our sovereign God is in control and I'm not going to fret over it. It's not worrying to check the tracking updates every 30 minutes, right? Right?! I will definitely feel a huge sense of relief when I know our dossier is in the facilitator's hands, though. Hopefully there will be a post in a few days rejoicing over a safe arrival of our package!

No More Moisture Gloves!!

2012-01-03T13:21:00.005-06:00

I'm so happy, I feel like singing...but I won't 'cause you really don't want to hear it: ) I called the USCIS adoption hotline and asked (for the 97th time) if we had a case worker and she said no. I then asked if there was someone who I could email or call to find out if I needed to redo my fingerprints as I was told mine were "iffy" and she then asked me when I had them done. I told her the date and after a few seconds she said these wonderful words, "Laura, you're fingerprints are good, there's no need to get them redone." Music to my ears!! As soon as I hung up the phone, I jumped up and down with sheer elation.

So, thank you to those who are praying for us and our precious baby girl each step of the way. The last step before submitting our complete dossier is USCIS approval. Please continue to pray for our case worker.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

New Year Update

2012-01-02T09:39:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year! 2011 was a whirlwind of a year, it feels like we just celebrated the 2011 New Year and here we are in 2012. The past year was filled with many blessings as we bought our house and moved in earlier in the year, spent time with family and friends, celebrated our children's birthdays, hubby took me on a getaway, and we found our baby girl in Eastern Europe and started on this journey to bring her home. We are thankful for all that God has done and is doing in our family!

We've had many people asking us where we're at in the process so I wanted to give everyone an update and ask you to pray for some specific things. So here it goes...

-Last week we took our fingerprint appt letters to our local USCIS office and prayed they would let us walk in ahead of our date. Our date is scheduled for January 12th, but some friends of ours who have adopted told us the office allows walk ins so we decided to try hoping this would speed up our USCIS approval. Everyone in the office was very kind and we were able to get them done. My skin gets very dry in the winter so 4 of my 10 fingers didn't show up well. The lady doing the prints explained that I may be asked to do it again. Please pray that my prints will be accepted so we won't be delayed any further.

-I've called USCIS multiple times to ask if my prints have been accepted or rejected and told each time that we don't have a case worker assigned to us yet. The case worker will decide if I need to redo them. Please pray that we will have someone assigned to us very soon so we can get our approval ASAP!

-We traveled to our capital city to have our dossier docs apostilled last week. They are done and we should be sending the dossier (minus USCIS approval form) over today!! Please pray it will arrive safely and our facilitators will get it translated with ease!

Overall, we're praying for USCIS approval quickly so we can have our complete dossier in our facilitator's hands ASAP as they still have to translate it and submit it for pre-approval before it can be fully submitted. We're hoping it can be logged in with the country's govt by the beginning of February. Even though that seems unlikely at this point, we know our God is so much bigger than this process and can do what seems impossible!

Please pray for us as we wait to patiently trust in Him - this process is definitely testing us and we want to glorify God each step of the way! We know He loves our daughter more than we ever could and His timing his perfect even when we don't understand it. Thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers, they are precious to us!

Kandles for Elizabeth

2011-12-29T20:46:00.009-06:00

My sweet friend Kristi, owner of Kristi's Kandles, has so kindly offered to donate 30% of all profits made now through January 31st to our adoption fund! Please head over to her page and check out all her delightful scents!

Kristi's Kandles offers hand-poured, scented soy candles in 4 different sizes and clamshells for your wax warmers, such as Scentsy warmers. There are many yummy scents to choose from that will make your home and office smell absolutely wonderful! There are many benefits of using soy candles:

- Soy wax BURNS CLEANER. Recent study shows that paraffin candles release cancer-causing agents into the air. Soy does not.

- Soy candles PROMOTE THE AMERICAN FARMER as soy beans are grown on American soil.

- Soy candles BURN LONGER AND COOLER than paraffin candles, giving you a longer-lasting candle while saving you money.

- Soy wax cleans up with warm, soapy water unlike other candles.

Go on over and check out her page! Thank you for supporting us through buying her amazing candles!

If you missed it...the ABC News report on Special needs Adoption in Ukraine

2011-12-26T20:06:00.004-06:00

In case you missed it!

Diane Sawyer with ABC World News did a segment on Reece's Rainbow, the organization we found Elizabeth Joy ("Kylen" on RR) through, and special needs adoption - mainly children with Down Syndrome. Please pray how you can be involved in helping these precious children, truly the least of these in the world's eyes.

Please click here to watch it.

ABC News with Diane Sawyer - Special Needs Adoption in Ukraine

2011-12-26T15:12:00.006-06:00

Tonight on ABC News (5:30 pm CST), Diane Sawyer is doing a report on special needs adoption in Ukraine. Please watch it and pray about what you can do to help these precious children! The organization featured, Reece's Rainbow, is how we found Elizabeth Joy("Kylen" on RR). Also, please be praying for those that watch it, that God would move hearts to action!

Please click here to read the story.

Moving Right Along...

2011-12-20T22:27:00.000-06:00

*Insert Contented Sigh and Big Smile*

Guess what I received in the mail today?? Yep, our USCIS fingerprint appointments!! Thankfully I was alone in the car when I went to check the mailbox because when I saw them, I literally shrieked with excitement and did a little dance in my seat: ) Now I know this doesn't mean we'll have our approval when we're hoping, but it is definitely one (big) step in the right direction. L's passport was also in our mailbox today and boy, does he look adorable in his little picture! His passport only took 12 days from application to being in our hands and we didn't even expedite it. Another point in the govt's favor, if you're keeping tabs.

In addition to our happy news above, I was able to get a couple more things done today for the dossier. Lord-willing, we should be able to be completely done with our dossier around the New Year! Considering we just committed to our baby girl the day before Thanksgiving, the process is moving quickly for which we are so very thankful. We did already have our home study almost completed, so that has helped as well.

Just wanted to share that and ask that you continue to pray for Elizabeth, favor with the govt officials in her country, and our hearts as we wait to be united with her.

Please Pray...and Thank you!

2011-12-19T11:22:00.000-06:00

We are getting closer to being done with the paper chase, but are still waiting on our USCIS approval. We haven't even been assigned a case worker nor had out fingerprinting appt set yet. Will you please pray with us for our USCIS approval and case worker who will be assigned to us? We're hoping to have our approval by mid January, but know that is very unlikely with the holidays. We also know God is bigger than all of this! Please pray for peace and trust as we rest in His timing.

We also wanted to thank you all for continuing to buy coffee and donate to our adoption fund on our page! Every little bit adds up and we are thankful to those who have spread the word as well as supported us financially!

One Step Closer

2011-12-13T19:04:00.005-06:00

I'm starting to see the light at the end of this very long tunnel... we're getting stuff done and had a very productive day! We had to go to the capital city today to get our background check, fingerprinting and apostille for our first set of documents. Slowly, but surely our checklist is getting smaller!

We shipped our first set of docs to EE this afternoon and they will be in our facilitator's hands on Thursday (hopefully)! We still have lots of documents that need our attention, but now that some of the paperwork is done, this whole adoption things seems a bit more doable. Not to say that I won't be thinking how incredibly difficult it is later, but for now I feel a bit more confident we'll actually have our baby at the end of this process.

We also received our passports in the mail today and it only took a week! Yay for the U.S. govt, they actually got it done in less time than they said they would! I'm writing this down because it's likely never to happen again: )

We are one step closer to bringing Elizabeth home and that helps me keep at all the crazy paperwork in addition to my full-time job taking care of our home and children. I'm thankful for all our family and friends who've been so supportive and kind in helping us on our journey. A BIG thank you to my mom-in-law, Carole, for watching the littles today so we could go get everything done quickly and know they were well taken care of and not missing us: )

And don't forget we have our coffee fundraiser going on and you can click on the button we have at the upper right side of our blog that will take you to our support page. Thank you to those who have bought coffee and spread the word to others! We very much appreciate your support!

Got Coffee?

2011-12-06T17:41:00.006-06:00

As we've been pouring over fundraising ideas, we have come across Just Love Coffee a few times on various adoption blogs. It looks like a great fundraiser and benefits everyone involved! Here is an excerpt from their website on their products and mission:

"At Just Love Coffee Roasters, our mission is to bring out the unique qualities inherent in each coffee bean. We do this by taking a small-batch artisan approach to all of our specialty coffees. We don’t use automation or computers during the roast process, but instead carefully roast every batch to perfection using smell, sight, sound, touch, and taste. We’re always searching for the best Fair Trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee beans available.

And as passionate as we are about creating outstanding artisan coffees, we are equally passionate about helping those in need. Every delectable cup of Just Love Coffee you drink has a portion of its proceeds go to someone who could use a helping hand. In our first two years of business we have given over $200,000 to adopting families, non-profit organizations, and the arts. "

So, if you know any coffee lovers out there, please pass along the link to our "storefront" and they can shop for a variety of coffee from all over the world. We get a portion of the proceeds from each bag you buy that goes toward the adoption, but only when you buy through the link below.

https://justlovecoffee.com/richardr312

Coffee makes great gifts for those that enjoy it, and you get to have a hand in bringing Elizabeth home! Help us get the word (and link) out by sharing it with friends and family. Thank you for your support!!

IT'S OFFICIAL!! Meet Elizabeth Joy...

2011-12-02T11:35:00.007-06:00

We have committed to bring home a precious baby girl from Eastern Europe, Elizabeth Joy!! We found her through the Reece's Rainbow website, a ministry devoted to raising awareness and helping families adopt children with special needs such as Down Syndrome, HIV+ and other conditions. She has Down Syndrome and is healthy. She turns 4 months this month and we hope to bring her home in 5-6 months!

We're working on our dossier and getting ready to submit our forms for USCIS approval. It's been a crazy ride so far and we're just getting started: ) We're so thankful for this opportunity and pray God will keep her safe and cared for while we wait! Please join us in praying for our Elizabeth Joy and for our family as we work as quickly as possible to bring her home!

Follow our blog as we will be keeping it updated on our adoption journey.

Noah's First Birthday!

2009-07-13T12:31:00.006-05:00

It has been a year since the Lord blessed us with the birth of our third child, Noah John Rector. He has been such a joy to our family with his constant smile, easy going attitude, and sweet disposition! I love being his mommy and learning more about him and who he is everyday. It is our prayer he will be a man of God with integrity, valor, and honor. I'm enjoying everyday with him and look forward to all the days the Lord has ordained for him! I thank God for giving us the gift of our son, Noah.

Welcome Noah John!!

2008-07-21T23:32:00.003-05:00

"Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow...!"

I am filled with gratitude to my Lord and Savior for the blessing of another child. In the short time he has been with us, Noah has already brought so much joy to the Rector household. His recent entrance into our family, as well as the manner in which he arrived, are both testaments of God's faithfulness to us.

As I think about the day we found out Laura was pregnant with our third child, I reflect on where we were a relatively short time ago. Just a little over four years back, Laura and I had our life planned out rather well, or so we thought. To make a long story short, our rant was "Get married, finish college, get jobs, buy house, buy nice cars, put $$$ in the bank, then have a boy for me, girl for you, praise the Lord, cause then we're through." Well, a few months into our marriage, our hearts changed. We realized, by God's grace, that He, being the Sovereign, Almighty, Creator of the Universe, had something to say about how we should order our lives, and what our priorities should be. We then had to confront the fact that many of our plans, though not inherently sinful in and of themselves, were based on cultural dictates, rather than a careful, prayerful examination of God's Will for our family, as clearly expressed in His Word (See the first several chapters of Genesis, Duet. 5, Psalm 137, 139 - these were all particularly helpful). So, we decided to make different plans, striving, though imperfectly, to center those plans around God's Word.

The point is this: if you told us back on March 12, 2004, that in little more than four years of marriage, we would have three children, we would not have thought this to be good news. "Sure, children were a blessing," we thought. "But only if planned, and only in certain quantities." The fact that our hearts have been changed in such a way that we now rejoice at the birth of another child is, in itself, a testament to God's faithfulness. Praise God that he changed our hearts. Praise God for Ethan, Emma, and Noah, our arrows in the hands of a warrior.

The story of Noah's birth also gives us reason to be grateful. After a long, difficult labor with Emma, Laura was certainly hoping for a shorter one with Noah, and shorter it was...

Around 7:00am, Laura woke me up (it was my day to go to work late) and said she felt some sort of pressure, with some minor contractions. She mentioned that it was off and on throughout the night, particularly between 3:00-4:00am, but that she was able to sleep through it for the most part. So, just in case, around 7:30am, we started timing the contractions. They were very irregular, and led us to believe nothing was going on - until around 8:15, when a much more intense contraction sent her to the floor. I then called the midwife, but Laura still wasn't convinced it was the real deal. We actually told the midwife to take her time - get a shower, grab a bite, and just come on over whenever...

Nonetheless, since Laura was experiencing a bit of discomfort, we thought we'd better go ahead and prepare in case this was the real thing. So we called her Mother, Vivian to come pick up the kids. I packed their bag, and began unpacking the birthing pool Laura was planning on laboring in. Yeah - didn't quite get that done. Around 8:30am the contractions became so intense that Laura was begging to get in the water - NOW! Of course, I still had to blow up the thing (electric pump, but still), so Laura got in the tub in our bathroom. In the meantime, I called my Dad to let him know what was going on, and told him I'd stay in touch. They were on their way back from a Youth Camp in Missouri when all this was going on. I believe I said, "I'll talk to you around lunch time to give you an update..."

So then Paula comes in, around 9:15-9:20 - calm as can be, because, as we told her, "it was probably nothing." She hears Laura breathing heavily through a contraction, and goes to check on her. At this point, I'm getting the kids settled in their room while they wait on "Gram-Gram" to pick them up. Then Paula storms out, saying Laura will likely be pushing within the hour. So we go from, "Hey Paula, how are you? Sorry to make you come all this way, I hope it's at least something," to "Get back here NOW! Where is your Mother-in-law??? I need your help!!"

Laura's Mom gets there around 9:45, and I get the kids loaded in the van and ready to go. I get back into the tub with Laura, using my entire body weight to apply counter-pressure on her back, and was in no longer than 15-20 minutes when she started pushing. Vivian and the kids didn't leave, but instead, huddled up in the play room on the other side of the house. She just couldn't leave knowing Laura would likely be pushing soon. Noah was born at 10:08! I called my Dad, less than a hour after saying, "We'll talk at lunch time," and shared the news with him.

So, wake up at 7:00am, follow my normal early morning routine, get the kids ready, eat breakfast, do a little scrambling, then meet my new Son, Noah John, at just after 10 am. Well, not quite the 16-hour labor we were expecting, but I don't think Laura minded that too much!

Noah: Hebrew Origin, "peaceful"

John: Hebrew Origin, "the LORD is gracious"

Thanks be to God, He has been gracious toward us - in blessing us with a peaceful labor and delivery, a peaceful child, and hearts that are being changed...

Demographic Winter Trailer

2008-06-01T08:51:00.002-05:00

Great video. Finally saw the entire documentary last week. I wondered why the first guy always seems so nervous while he's talking. I found out after watching the video that he makes some very controversial statements about the reality of the world's demographic situation. After watching it, you might understand why he's a little nervous...

Housing Bubble

2008-05-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

So, being in the financial industry, I'm always interested in a good discussion about the economy. Of particular interest at this time is the real estate market. There is ongoing debate among economists and financial analysts about how much further real estate has to fall before it reaches a "bottom." Is real estate still overvalued? Will the values keep falling, if so, how much further? Is now a good time to buy?

First of all, I advise you NOT to listen to CNBC or any other major financial news source (except maybe Rick Santelli, he doesn't seem to buy all the financial "hype"). What I would advise you to do instead is to look at a historical chart of median home prices in the US. Most of us in Algebra class learned how to take several points on an X/Y graph and draw a "trend-line" of sorts (Its been a long time, I can't quite remember the term). Use a bit of common sense, which is really all that goes into sound financial advice anyway (but hey, we live in a society of "experts," don't we? Experts who, by the way, almost NEVER agree on anything). Look at the trend of housing prices in the U.S. since 1890, and you tell me if you think we've retreated back to "normal" levels. A good chart of that is located here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200507/housing-bubble

The article that accompanies the chart is also interesting. Let me know what you think...

Also note, as the article indicates, irresponsible, not to mention ungodly, lending practices have artificially driven the prices up to "boom" levels. We have basically become an economy that runs on credit. I would argue that has been, and is being done on purpose. For more info on that topic, check out the documentaries "Maxed Out," "Money Masters," or even "America: Freedom to Fascism." I'll try to find trailers for those and post them on my blog..

DUE DATE: JULY 7, 2008!!

2007-11-28T22:16:00.000-06:00

Well, we went in for our second ultrasound tonight and found out I'm 8 weeks and 2 days. That means I'm due 7/7/08! Our little bean is looking good in there. The heartbeat came back at 176bpm. Emma's was really high like that and Ethan's was lower, so we'll see what we get in July: ) We aren't going to find out so we're guessing and doing all those little prediction games.

It was such a relief to see the baby growing and see the heartbeat. When we went in for our first ultrasound three weeks ago tonight, Debbie (sonographer) said I looked to only be 3-4 weeks. That was troubling because it didn't seem to match up with my suspected dates. Of course, that made me worry because I'm just crazy like that: ) So when we we're able to see that everything looked good, I was very happy: ) That's why I haven't updated until now. I was a little worried about the baby and pregnancy, so I wanted to wait until we had a better idea of what was going on.

Debbie did say that I needed to take it easy over the next few weeks. She saw some implantation bleeding and said it would be wise to take it slow. Other than that, all good things!

We are very happy and thankful to our Lord for blessing us again with a precious new life. We truly believe Psalm 127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

So for now, everything looks good. I want to upload one of our ultrasound pics of our new little one: ) We're all in the middle of colds, so I'll try soon.

WONDERFUL NEWS!!

2007-11-05T17:31:00.000-06:00

We found out today that we are expecting our third child! We are excited and shocked at the same time. We didn't think pregnancy was even a possibility with my delayed fertility due to breastfeeding Emma. So, here we are-PREGNANT! I called my midwife and setup an appt with her for next Monday (a week from today) and an ultrasound for Wednesday. I never had a cycle so we don't even know when I'm due or how far along I am.

I have been having symptoms for a little while, but just kept putting them off as something else. I've been tired, somewhat nauseated to name a couple of hints. I didn't suspect pregnancy at first. Then I thought I'd take a test just for peace of mind thinking it would be negative. Wow, I was surprised this morning at 3am. It took me an hour to get back to sleep.

I estimate I'm about 5-6 weeks which puts me due sometime in late June/early July. We'll see what the ultrasound says. It looks like Emma and the next baby will be about 18-19 months apart.

I'll update again after the ultrasound.

We SOLD the house!

2007-11-05T10:47:00.000-06:00

Well, we finally closed on our house this past Friday! We thought this day would never come, but it came and went quite quickly since we had to move out the same day. We decided to lease for a while instead of buy/build a house. We feel this is the best decision for now. Anyway, we really like our new house. It's a 4 bedroom/2 bath house about the same size as our other house. I'll post a pic when I can. My mom, Dawn, the Nobles Family, and Mark and John Urback (from our church) came to help us clean and unpack. We were able to get a good bit done, but still have stuff all over the house. It's just going to take a while before our house is where we want it. With two little ones 2 and under we'll get stuff done when we can. : )

House back on the Market

2007-02-26T14:21:00.000-06:00

Sigh....Well, our house is officially back on the market. We received a call on Friday letting us know the buyers who had a contract on our house decided to opt out. We were pretty stunned and disappointed to say the least! Now, we're waiting for another buyer, hopefully soon! Meanwhile, we're living at my parents house since our house is completely packed up in boxes, and our utilities have been turned off. We had them scheduled to turn off Wednesday and didn't find out the bad news until Friday. If we can get a buyer soon, then we'll stay here until we find a house. Anyway, it has been a hectic week! On a good note, we had a family look at the house on Saturday and they are looking at it again today at 5:30. Our agent called and said another family is interested, but can't look at the house until Wednesday. They told him that if they like it, they'll make an offer the same day. So we are hopeful that we'll sell it soon. We ask for prayer for our family for wisdom in this situation.

Trying to sell the house

2007-02-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

Well, we were able

to get a buyer for our house very quickly last week after only having it on the market for 5 days! We're drawing nearer to our expected closing date of February 21st (next Wednesday), but as usual, a few things have come up to make things difficult, causing some doubt as to whether or not we'll actually be closing next Wednesday. We're doing everything we can to remain patient, and realize that as much as it seems like we could blame things on one person or the next, we must realize that the situation is completely in God's hands. He has every resource at his disposal (considering he CREATED every resource) and ultimately has the ability to do whatever he desires. So we're asking for the faith to trust that God sees the bigger picture and that whatever happens, God will accomplish what he wants. So, probably later this weekend or early next week, we'll have another update...

Keep us in your prayers!

Different Child, Different Personality

2007-02-13T23:12:00.000-06:00

One thing Laura and I are learning in a big way right now is how every child is born with their own unique personality. We are learning more and more everyday just how different Ethan and Emma are. Emma has definitely been more challenging for us, probably because we assumed she'd be like Ethan. For the first year or so of his life, he either slept or ate. It wasn't too hard to please him! Emma on the other hand, is very needy, and wants much more to be cuddled and held, and loves it when you look into her eyes and talk to her. Putting her to sleep is an ordeal just about every night, and sometimes takes 1-2 hours! Laura and I have accepted the fact that Emma by nature is simply more "high-needs" than Ethan. She is not nearly as independent as he was. As long as he had a full belly, he was good to go. So we're learning that parenting Ethan and parenting Emma aren't exactly the same thing. We are learning to approach them differently, while still being guided by what God's Word says about training and discipling them. We're being stretched more now than we have ever been in our lives, but by God's Grace, we hope to become stronger and wiser parents!

It is incredible how much God teaches you through your children. How different and unique he has made each of his children, with our own strengths and weaknesses. How frustrating it would be to have me as a child! I think about times when I tell Ethan "not touch" about 25 times, and he finally learns his lesson by the 26th time...how often do I disobey the voice of my Heavenly Father? I expect Ethan to learn very quickly what first-time obedience is, and I'm reminded that I too must obey the voice of my Heavenly Father without question, without hesitation, having complete faith, and with a joyful heart. God's design is always perfect. It is amazing that when you learn and implement Biblical standards for the training and discipling of your children, you simultaneously get an example of what true obedience is.

Well, despite the fact that Emma is a little needy, it's actually not too bad having a daughter that loves to cuddle with her Daddy so much! She'll definitely be the more talkative one between her and Ethan. Of course, anytime I want to build legos or wrestle on the floor, Ethan is always up for that. So I'll enjoy getting to know my kids more and more everyday, and continue to be amazed at what a wonderful mix of little characters make up our family...

Currently Reading...

2007-01-30T20:42:00.000-06:00

"Humility, True Greatness," is a book I'm currently reading as part of our men's Bible study. I just started, but what I've read so far has had a huge impact. Especially in a very competitive industry that does anything but foster humility, it is very good to have this reminder to constantly defeat my sinful pride. Check out this quote:

"God clearly states that he is drawn to the humble. He's also clear that he opposes the proud. These two, humility and pride, cannot coexist. Where one is fostered, the other is defeated. Which will you pursue?"

That statement is very convicting. How often do we live life as anything but humble servants of God? How often are our motivations based on what pleases us? The warning, which is also an encouragement, is that when one is fostered, the other is defeated. As I foster humility, I am simultaneously defeating pride.

This book is a very easy read, but contains rich Biblical truth. Get it at your bookstore for $10 or less, and read it in a hour or so.

"This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit."

-Isaiah 66:2