Wow, it's been a long time since I've been on here! I hope to be better. Here is a picture from Mother's Day. I am truly blessed!

Addison and Thanksgiving

Had Addison in to the doctor yesterday. The last couple weeks she has not been herself and not sleeping well at all (up 2 or 3 times a night). We had her in 3 weeks ago and no ear infection or anything. So I've been attributing it to teething. Well yesterday I had enough and off to the doctor we went. She has a pretty bad right ear infection and her left ear was on the brink. So hopefully the antibiotics will do the trick, which means more sleep for mom and dad:) She weighed right around 16 pounds so she is really growing good.

As I reflect on this past year, I am so blessed. A wonderful husband, 4 beautiful children, house to keep us warm and food to eat and clothes to wear. This last year has been a roller coaster of emotions. Throughout we have had to step out in faith as God knew what would be best for our family. God planted many seeds along the way to get us to this point and He will continue to guide us through.

A song that has stuck with me through our Adoption journey's has been "Here I Am" by Downhere. I heard this song while driving home from work the day we found out that Joselyn's birthmom was expecting again and we could potentially have a 4th child in our home.

Sometimes Your calling, comes in dreams
Sometimes it comes in the Spirit's breeze
You reach for the deepest hope in me
And call out for the things of eternity

But I'm a man, of dust and stains,
You move in me, so I can say

Chorus:
Here I am, Lord send me
All of my life, I make an offering,
Here I am, Lord send me
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan,
Here I am

When setbacks and failures, and upset plans
Test my faith and leave me with empty hands
Are You not the closest when it's hardest to stand
I know that You will finish what You began

And these broken parts You will redeem
Become the song that I can sing

Chorus

Overwhelmed by the thought of my weakness
And the fear that I'll fail You in the end
In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces,
I can't put this together but You can

Chorus

Here I am, all my life an offering to You, to You
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan
Here I am

Wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Halloween

Joselyn's Bee Costume

Joselyn and Addison

Keegan and Aiden were Darth Vador!

We went to the Hallelujah Party at Trinity on Friday night.

Our little pumpkin:)

Football

Big football game tonight for the Nighthawks!! We all wore our Nighthawk Blue today.

Addison is 4 months old!

Where has the time gone! Took Addison in for her 4 month checkup and she weighed 14 pounds and was 24 1/4 inches long. She's growing and developing well! Her and Joselyn are about the same length at this age but Addison outweighs her by 1/2 a pound. She's still not sleeping through the night but will occasionally surprise us. She is very content most of the time and loves to watch all the activity around her. She smiles for just about any one:)

Under the weather...

Well Keegan has pretty much been sick all week. It started Monday when he complained that his stomach hurt. By Monday afternoon he threw up and continued to do so on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday he finally stopped that but still ran a temp. I took him in this morning and he has sinus infection, sore throat and inflamed tonsils. Hopefully the antibiotic can kick it! He looks pretty tough!

A small smile for today:)

Adoption Tax Credit

The IRS just issued guidance on the expanded Adoption Credit available for Tax Year 2010. Here's the link:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=228301,00.html

In a nutshell the credit has been increased to $13,170 per child and makes the credit refundable, meaning that eligible taxpayers can get it even if they owe no tax for that year. The kicker is that in addition to filing form 8839 with your return, eligible taxpayers must include with their 2010 tax returns one or more adoption-related documents. I haven't yet found what qualifies as an adoption related document. The documentation requirements mean that taxpayers claiming the credit will have to file paper tax returns. It normally then takes 6 to 8 weeks to get a refund claimed on a complete and accurate paper return. The good news is you get all your money in one year; the bad news is you have to wait a little longer to get it.