Month 2 - April

Here are my Favorite Fifteen pictures from April... my little newborn has already grown so much!  At this point, he started sleeping in 4.5-5 hour stretches at night!  He was weighing about 8-10 pounds during this month, and he started to suck his thumb.  He wasn't very good at it yet, but he got really excited anytime his thumb connected with his mouth!!  I went back to work in the middle of April... and the number of pictures drastically declined...  :(  I'll make up for it this summer!

1.  Eli and Mama... just hanging out in a green monkey outfit.  I like dressing Eli in green!

2.  Eli and Daddy... making silly faces.

3.  What a precious face!

4.  Thinking about something!

5.  Look Mom, I'm going to suck my thumb!

6.  First family picture

7.  Eli makes the cutest faces!

8.  Eli and Daddy!

9.  Eli and his grandpa taking a nap

10.  Easter picture...  We attempted to get another good family picture, but Eli screamed through all of these pictures... this was the "happiest" shot we have!

11.  The full screaming face!  Haha!

12.  Hanging out at home.

13.  All bundled up and happy

14.  Smiling at Daddy

15.  2 month Pooh Picture... He's grown so much already!!!

Month 1 - March

I'm trying to get caught up on a little blogging... :)  I'm snuggling with my little Eli as I type and pick out my favorite pictures.  We are enjoying our time with this precious peanut! 

In March, Eli weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces at birth and measured 20 inches long.  At his two week appointmen, he was already 7 pounds, 12 ounces.  He was growing fast.  We were up every three hours at night... I never knew one could be so exhausted!

Here are the top ten pictures from March:

1.  This was Eli and Mama at the hospital... getting ready to come home!!!  What a great day!

2.  Eli and Daddy... the day we brought him home.  Eli was two days old!

3.  Eli was smiling!  Not just gas!  I was cooing at him and talking to him, and he smiled... my mom was on hand to get the picture... it took about five tries to time the smile with the pictures... we were so shocked that he was smiling... he was less than a week old at this point.  Now he smiles all the time!

4.  Grumpy Gus! 

5.  Such a peaceful sleeper!  "Milk Coma!"

6.  Eli and Daddy after his two week appointment with the pediatrician!

7.  Eli and his Mama!

8.  Eli in his coordinating dinosaur head to toe!  So cute!

9.  Eli at 4 weeks.  Pooh Picture... this will be a monthly picture to compare his growth.

10.  More snuggles with the little one!

Eli

It is so crazy to me how in such a short time I can love this little guy so much! Eli is a joy in our lives, and we are so blessed! He is almost seven weeks old! He has already outgrown all of his newborn clothes and some of his 0-3 month clothes, too!! He also outgrew newborn diapers. That was a tough transition for his mama who wants him to stay little!!!!!

I am back to work now. I survived the first week, but I miss him so much every day!

What a Year!!!

This has been the most surprising year of my life!  2012 started with us both working and me coaching basketball - like normal...  We found a great deal on flights to Orlando, and we decided to get good use out of our annual passes to Disney World.  So, we booked a trip and made plans to go at the beginning of March.  Two weeks before we went to Disney, we got a phone call that changed our lives!

Back up to last June...

After our second adoption attempt, we decided to take a break from adoption.  We'd had two attempts fall through in the last month of pregnancy, and we were hurt.  God brought us a lot of healing, but we weren't ready to go through the waiting, stress, and potential pain.  A few days before the phone call, God spoke to each of us and opened our hearts to adoption again.  We both assumed He meant international... we assumed wrong!

The Phone Call - We got a call about a birthmother who was due in three weeks.  We were stunned at the timing!  Literally days after God spoke to each of us!  We tried not to get our hopes up... we didn't tell anyone but family about the possibility.  We prayed that she wouldn't go into labor while we were at Disney! 

On the third day of our trip, we got a text message that we were having a BOY!  We were so excited!

We flew back to TN on a Saturday.  The following Tuesday, I got the call that our birthmother went into labor.  I drove to the hospital and was absolutely blessed to see my adopted son be born!  It was amazing!  We spent the next two days at the hospital, then we brought home our little Eli. 

The last month has been amazing!  We've fallen in love with the most amazing little baby!  Welcome to the family, Eli Asher Honett!

Now I feel like we might need to change the name of our blog....  ;-)

2011 in Review

Sarah here.  I just wanted to spend a few minutes reflecting on our 2011 year.  It was a roller coaster for sure!  There were moments where we both wanted the ride to stop.  Even amidst all of the ups and downs, we both grew so much, and I wouldn't trade that growth.

At this time last year, I had just met our first birth mother.  I drove with a friend to meet her and take her to the doctor.  We found out she was having a boy.  The next few weeks were full of hope and anxious waiting.  I took her to another appointment two weeks after meeting her, and she told me she was going to keep the baby.  She wasn't sure where she was going to live or how she was going to care for her child, but she no longer wanted to discuss adoption.  While this was a sad moment, we knew that it was God's will.  We were encouraged even in our sadness to see God working actively in our lives.  We still think about the first baby and pray for his safety.

While finishing up the basketball season and all of the stress / busy schedules involved in coaching middle school, we had another birth mother approach us about adoption.  We knew this woman personally and felt encouraged that she could be involved in her baby's life after the adoption was finalized.  Over the next several months, the situation went from ok to bad to worse.  To make a long story shorter, after we met with the lawyer to begin the paperwork, the birth mother started to change.  I feared she was changing her mind about the adoption, but she continually reassured me that she was not changing her mind.  Throughout this time, she said and did hurtful things, but we continued to hold hope that we were still in God's hands.  When the due date came and went, we began to get concerned that some of her paperwork was still not in our lawyer's hands.  June 1 we found out through our lawyer that the birth mother had already had the baby and did not tell us that she had changed her mind.  While having the adoption fall through was painful enough, what made it worse was that someone who had been a friend of ours continually lied and betrayed us.  It was very difficult to overcome that hurt and to finally forgive her.  We certainly don't blame her for keeping her child, but we just wish she would have told us that she'd changed her mind.

In order to deal with this loss and to get a fresh start, we took a trip to Disney World!  For months, we'd been planning to go to Disney if the adoption did not go through.  When we finally got the news, we booked our trip and got away.  The week at Disney was so refreshing for us.  We spent time together having fun and enjoying our favorite vacation spot!  It was a huge blessing to be able to take that trip when our hearts were so broken.

Throughout all of this, I had been attending Celebrate Recovery (http://www.celebraterecovery.com/).  This is a Christ-centered recovery program based on the Beatitudes from Matthew 5.  Being in this group and hearing amazing stories of healing and hope helped me deal with all of the stress and hurt from each step of the second adoption.  No hurt, habit, or hangup is beyond God's healing.  I have grown so much through this program.  I am seeing Scripture in a new light and giving God my hurts.  He has brought so much healing already to my life, and I am excited to see what else is in store for me.

After my first summer off (I've always taught summer school until this year), the school year started.  We hit the ground running!  I was blessed to have an amazing student teacher throughout the first ten weeks of school.  He was so great with the kids and brought some fresh perspective from his experiences and classes.  I learned a lot from him, and I hope he learned a lot from me as well.  Our school actually had an opening at the semester, and we hired my student teacher!  Our department has changed quite a bit since last year, but we are becoming a cohesive team that supports one another and strives for excellence.  It is exciting to be a part of this team and to grow and work with amazing people!  I truly love what I do!  While it can be stressful and challenging, I am fulfilled.

Now, in the swing of another basketball season (this is my 5th year coaching girls' basketball), I'm attempting to find balance in my schedule.  I want to work less, spend more time with friends and family, encourage others, heal from my hurts, habits, and hangups, and continue to see the plans God has for my life.  Happy New Year! 

No Caffeine: Day 3... the final day!

I will preface this post by saying that I am drinking a cup of fabulous, warm coffee right this minute!

My hardcore dieting and no caffeine lasted three days!  After two days of caffeine headaches, I am never quitting coffee cold turkey again!  To be more realistic, I'm probably never quitting coffee period! 

Day 3 - I woke up with just a slight headache, took some advil, and went to basketball practice.  I ate a banana and an apple for breakfast.  I really don't like bananas that much... but I powered through.  I ran a bunch of errands around town and went to the grocery store.  I found some good deals on more apples and veggies.  When I got home, I made myself a lunch of yogurt & granola and some bread & cheese.  While it fulfilled my hunger, it wasn't that exciting since I'd had pretty much the same thing the day before.

By the time Kevin got home from work, I'd pretty much decided that I am not hardcore enough to cut out all of my favorites (hamburgers, tortilla chips, coffee!!!).  When he decided that he'd had enough of life without coffee, we scrapped the whole diet and returned to normal life!  This was conveniently timed because we ended up going to dinner with friends.  I ate chips & salsa and a chicken caesar salad without the dressing.  Still pretty healthy, but I allowed myself the tortilla chips to splurge! 

All in all, it was an interesting experience, but I'm not disciplined enough to continue 14 days without my favorite beverage!  Ahhh... coffee, I've missed you!

No Caffeine: Day 2

Caffeine withdrawal!!!!  I really missed my coffee this morning.  I ate an apple for breakfast.  It's not the same as coffee!  I've been sporting a killer headache all day and have felt kinda crappy most of the day, too.  My body's working through the caffeine withdrawal.  I've also been craving chips and salsa ALL day!  Every time I walk by the kitchen or pantry, I can hear tortilla chips calling my name!  I've stayed strong, though.

I've been super sleepy all day, so I think I'm going to call it a night early and get some needed rest.  I'm really hoping that the headaches are gone by tomorrow...

No Caffeine: Day 1 Update

I'm really glad that I'm detoxing the caffeine over Winter Break... my kids would call me a mean teacher if I was at school today.  Without my coffee this morning, I've turned into Grouchy Sarah!!!  Yikes!  I've had a significant headache all day, but I'm keeping it at bay with some Advil.  From previous caffeine detoxing, I know that the first day and a half are the worst.  This time tomorrow, most of the caffeine will be out of my system, and I won't be dragging quite so much! 

I ate some turkey for lunch, yes, just turkey!  I needed to run some errands, so I just heated up some turkey and scarfed it down.  Then I had some Greek yogurt and granola for a snack just now.

I also went grocery shopping and loaded up on fruits and veggies.  Kroger had a good sale on apples and oranges!!  I bought some Kale... never eaten it before, but it's supposed to be rich in vitamins and nutriuents... yikes.  I'm scared...

Hopefully now with a snack in my tummy and some food in the house, I'll be less grouchy! 

No Caffeine!!!

Seriously!  We cut out caffeine for two weeks!  We're trying to eat healthier.  With that we decided to do a juice fast to cleanse our systems of all the toxins and junk food.  So for the next few days, we're eating super healthy to prepare for the juice fast.  We'll do the juice-only fast for 3-5 days depending on doctor approval, and then we'll eat super healthy for a few days after that to ease our bodies back into a normal food routine. 

As of this morning, we have cut out caffeine, alcohol, red meat, processed food, and all junk food for the next two weeks.  What's left???  Fruit, veggies, chicken, turkey, yogurt, granola, pasta, dairy, and juicer-made juice.  Both of us have been looking toward a more healthy diet anyway, and with the purchase of a Jack La Lanne juicer (http://www.powerjuicer.com/), we decided to boost the health food kick with juicing!  We then watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (a documentary about juicing - http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/).  After that we decided to try a short juice fast. 

Today is day one of NO CAFFEINE!!!!!!  I already miss my morning coffee.  I took some Advil this morning to lessen the caffeine headache... not looking forward to that!  I will be missing my Diet Coke this afternoon as well.  We will blog throughout the next few weeks to document our caffeine withdrawals and our successes!

I made juice for breakfast - about 1 cup of fresh cabbage, 2 handfuls of spinach, 2 celery stalks, about 7 carrots, 3 apples, and a handful of blackberries.  This made two big glasses for Kevin and I.  It takes more like veggies today than usual.  If I add an orange in the mix, you can hardly taste the veggies.  Bottoms up on the breakfast juice and goodbye to coffee for the next two weeks.  More updates coming soon!

Summer Update

Well, we are 0 for 2 on the adoption front.  The second adoption attempt also fell through at the last minute.  It's not the happiest of situations, but we know that God's still got our best interests in mind.  We're glad to be off of the adoption roller coaster for the time.  It's been such an up and down journey that we are not pursuing another adoption right now.  We need a break from putting our lives on hold and from the emotional ups and downs.

Sarah is not teaching summer school this year - it's the first summer she's had "off" since she began in education.  She is enjoying the slower pace of life during the summer days.  There's more time to read, play, be with friends, and coupon.  Yes, she's jumped on the couponing bandwagon.  It's crazy, but we're already seeing some consistent savings in our grocery purchases.

We just got back from a trip to Disney.  We took a much-needed vacation to get away from the adoption drama and recharge our batteries from all of the emotional stress that we've been through the last few months.  We had a great time, and we are constantly reminded of how much fun we have - just the two of us!