Growing!

Here is one of the stranger ways to measure growth...cardiology photos!

He is two years older, nearly 8 inches taller & 10 pounds healthier (I still want to munch on that belly!) There no longer is any issue with his heart and we've been given the three year clearance!  But not before being declared the Best-EKG-Wearing-Laying-Still-During-An-Echo Patient of the Week. Only the cool kids get that stamp of approval!  Thankful for God's hand of health over my boy.

Bamboo Project Update: More Gotchya Days!

Two Bamboo families are HOME with their sweet daughters and doing AMAZINGLY well...thank you Lord!  They are clearly madly in love with their sweet ones, despite jet lag and multiple medical appointments. Siblings are adjusting wonderfully and God's protective hand of health has been over all of them. Hallelujah!!  (I can't tell you how much I am loving being a part of this process!)

 

Two more families leave today to get their special beauties. Let me tell you, both families are over the moon in love with the children they have yet to meet! This trip will be extra special as these two families, from opposite ends of our nation that have supported each other and prayed for each other and swapped their adoption griefs & cheers will meet for the first time in China holding their Bamboo children...under God's banner of amazing love. What a glimpse of heaven that will be! 

Please be praying for these families in travel. At the last minute the provincial government mandated an extra 7 days in country. This means an extra week of expenses and an additional week of time away from the young children they are leaving behind in California &  Tennessee.  Two weeks without mom & dad is really hard; three weeks is close to eternity when you are preschool & young school age. Please cover the children staying behind with peace, guardians with extra comfort as they care for these little ones, health & grace over parents as they travel, and God's sweet covering over their new son & daughter as they meet their new Forever Family.

Also please continue to contend for the five remaining Bamboo Boys who need a new Forever. We will continue to advocate for them through their homecoming! This adoption process is God's promise to us all...He will NOT leave us; He WILL come; and His Holy Spirit rests with us in power now as we wait. What a day it will be when He arrives and says, 'Come on, sweetheart, let's go HOME'.

 

 

 

The OH OH Song

     (This is part of our July post at No Hands But Ours!)

     Like all toddler/preschoolers my boy can be a bit obsessive about things from time to time. He frequently will not leave the house without a random "object of necessity"...a pillowcase, a can of mushrooms, a toothbrush AND a Bible, the vacuum cleaner (he may have been commenting on the state of the car with that one), etc. It's funny and random and I roll with it. The rules remain loose, unless Momma needs to wear it under her clothing, you can take it with you (seems fair...and legal).

 

    There is one song however, that we MUST listen to nonstop, everyday, the ENTIRE time we are in the car.  The "Oh-Oh" song, IE: We Are The Free by Matt Redman.  His face absolutely lights up when track 1 turns on: "Momma! This is it! This is the song we've been waiting for!"

 

We Are The Free

We’re the forgiven, singing redemption's song
There's a fire that burns inside
A fire that burns inside
Nothing can stop us
We’ll be running through the night
With a fire that burns inside
A fire that burns inside

We are the free, the freedom generation
Singing of mercy
You are the One who set us all in motion
Yours is the glory
There’s a fire in our hearts and it burns for You
It’s never gonna fade away
We are the free, and Yours is the glory

Oh, oh, ohhhh, oh, oh oh...

We are the risen, living alive in You
And our passion will not die
No, our passion will not die
Nothing can stop us
We’ll be running through the night
And our passion will not die
No, our passion will not die

\Up from the grave He rose again
Up from the grave He rose and we will
Rise up, rise up
Into the world that You so love
Into the world we go and we will
Rise up, rise up

We are the free, and Yours is the glory

 

     He keeps time and 'sings' along inserting the signs we've invented to go with most of the lyrics; his favorite part is pumping his finger towards the sky yelling 'Yours is the glory!'

 

     I tried so hard to get frustrated with the repetition of the song as I'm convinced we've listened to it 4 gazillion times. I'm sure if it were Elmo or Raffi I would have jabbed a fork in my ears already. But I can't seem to get overwhelmed by this song and it thrills my heart that it is Isaac's favorite. My three & a half year old has memorized the Gospel through this tune--Jesus rose from the grave, we are free, we sing of your mercy and give You the glory. Isn't THAT the Lord's love for us & call to evangelism in the simplest of terms? Why do we try to complicate something so simple, so pure with a labyrinth of theology and legalism?  My Isaac responds to these words 90 times a day with the joy and passion of a Saved Soul. Shouldn't I as well??

Singing "oh oh" at the beach

 

     Isaac 'sings' his song in the middle of Target (I've learned to let my pride go and do the same); he signs it to his speech therapist, who has now had to learn the words (the Gospel!) to sign along with him; and he has taught his little friends at school to follow along as he leads them in circle time worship. He officially has a "fire that burns in side that nothing can stop". Oh--and when this song pops up during Sunday worship, he sits back in awe. You can read it in his face..."they ALL know our song?!!"  They sure do, buddy.  We are the free, and His is the glory!

 

 

 

A Day Out With Thomas

 

 

Thomas the Train was in town on a Really Useful Job from Sir Toppam Hatt. Thankfully, he had the afternoon off to spend with some of his favorite little humans...in the 96degree heat. (wowzers-that is warm!) Isaac hasn't quite made it into the train stage yet--he's pretty faithful to Elmo, but I thought we'd give it a try and see what he thought. He was super impressed with Thomas himself; in fact I only got one half way decent photo with Mr. The-Train because Isaac kept turning around to point at him and sign TRAIN. I think that means he likes it!  :)

Getting his first tattoo!

Who knew they would be so much fun??
(I may have started something here...)

Choo-chooo



I'm not gunna lie...I'm was totally stoked to find that blue train shirt on sale two weeks ago!

After our fun with the little trains and craft stations, BIG Thomas took us for a ride over Snoqualmie Falls.

Riding in a 1912 wooden car from the old Spokane-Portland-Seattle Railroad

Keeping an eye out for the waterfall

Jr. Engineer Isaac!

We left a little early because of the heat (Momma can't drive if she has passed out) but we had a great time. In fact, if anyone has a lead on train sets, tracks & tables, I think we are officially on the lookout for some!

A Trip To The Mountain

I've been aching for a day trip to Mt. Rainier since Isaac has been home. It's one of my most favorite places on Earth and quite literally in our own backyard (Technically you can see it from our neighbor's front yard, but whatever. That tree between us is bound to get chopped down, I mean pruned appropriately, one of these days).

Blurry, but thankful to the nice lady who snapped the photo.

Hiking up the mountain

It was all fun & games until he landed on the COLD snow.
"Mom---this. is. SNOW!"

Paradise selfie

A big motivator for the day was I just needed a day out...it was my turn to pick our adventure. :) But also, I want to exposure Isaac to lots of 'normal' activities; that he can do ANYTHING anyone else can do. Including hiking down to Narada Falls. He. Did. Great!  I was SO impressed. He was apprehensive at first but he held onto my hand and stayed upright and walked DOWN to the bottom of the falls. We took a picture to commemorate. I'm so proud of my boy!  Then...ONE of us hiked back UP huffing & puffing with 30lbs of extra weight...and the other one ate a chicken nugget.  I'm not saying who, just stating the facts. I will say the rest of the trip became more of a scenic drive.

Top of the falls, guarding his nugget.

 

Baby's first hike!

 

 

On the way home, we drove with the windows down, music up and enjoyed the views. A quick snack stop at Alder Lake in the heat of the day was a perfect end to our trip. 

 



Look at him with his watermelon stained shirt and trouble making eyebrows!
All boy!

I'm loving our adventures together.

And praising God for this beautiful place we live in!

Summertime Bucket List...2

5. Go to the beach!

One of the great advantages to living in the Puget Sound, is beaches are EVERYWHERE! Warm summer evenings + low tide = perfection!

That's one styling-boy

 

Sizing up the ocean.
Can it be conquered?

Making a run for it!
He can do it!!

My handsome beach-boy
While we played, he grabbed my cheeks and said "cue-cue" (thank you).
Awwwwww. You are welcome, sweet boy! 

6. Make pillow forts with Gramma

 

This is totally their thing now.
Isaac tells Gramma where to put which pillows & in which order.
Then he hides and smashes it down with roars of laughter from everyone!

 

7. Conquer the Sprinkly Circle of Death!
Let me give you the silent movie voice over for this daring feat of bravery:

A young boy finds himself trapped in a sprinkly circle of death on a hot summer evening. Dinner is almost ready. Will he be able to get himself out? Can he do it? Will he ever eat again?  But wait...there is an opening on the left with a wayward sprinkle. This could be his opportunity to LIVE. "Mom, I found my escape. I can do this!" He approaches the sprinkle. He examines his options. He declares his intentions to the treacherous wall of water..."I will NOT be overcome!"  He counts...1, 2 (forgets 3) and with one carefully planned step he GOOOOOOOOOOOOES.  He did it!  He escapes with only the clothes covering his tooshie. Nothing short of the Best High-Five EVER can commemorate this occasion. "I told you I could do it, Mom!  I told you!"  Thus, the young boy survives...to eat chicken nuggets and broccoli florets, both dipped in ranch dressing.   The End.

8. Celebrate America's Birthday.

He didn't stay up for the fireworks, but he got to have ice cream for breakfast with friends, go to the Freedom Fair and have a backyard BBQ (and survive a FIRE engulfing the bbq...but that's another story). That's a good birthday party in my book.

 

 

9. Graduate INTO preschool

 

We don't have pictures for this BIG event yet, but we will. For nearly two months the Kollege teachers & I have been working on transitioning Isaac into the Preschool Room. I'm glad I choose to leave him in the younger class for an extra 6months, but he now needs the extra academic challenges. The problem has been he seriously wanted NOTHING to do with the Preschool Room, thank you very much. He ruled the roost in the Toddler Room, his best buddies were in the Toddler Room, his favorite teacher was in the Toddler Room, why would he want to leave the Toddler Room??  All were good points but we persisted. The preschool teacher pursued him, rearranged her class curriculum and physicial design to meet his needs, and even changed her personal schedule to allow the teacher's aid to be available in the morning (Isaac likes her better...and Ms. T knew it) for drop off. Truly, they went OUT OF THEIR WAY to make Isaac comfortable. And FINALLY after weeks of morning crying and bolting from the room during free play, he had three good days and then refused to go back to the Toddler Room...wouldn't even acknowledge his favorite teacher (ouch! I bought her a gift, it's all good). So as of July 3, 2014 I am the very proud mother of a preschooler. Seriously proud!  Pictures to come.