For Froggie Boy

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One of the adoptive moms I've had the pleasure of being in contact with over the years is Tami. She adopted Noah from Taiwan (2008), and is now working to bring her second son, Jeremiah, home from Taiwan to join his brother, sister, mom and dad.

They have worked very, very hard to fundraise for both of these adoptions and are getting very close to needing large amounts of money to cover adoption fees for bringing Jeremiah home. And he needs to get home quickly! He has severe Cerebral Palsy and is just not getting the care he needs in an institutional setting. Having Mommy and Daddy around to love on him will help him thrive- let's help him get home!

I have donated an original painting of mine, Sailboat, to Tami's fundraising auction. Similar paintings of mine have sold for $100- $200. If you ever wanted one of my paintings, now is the time to bid! All of the profit goes directly to bringing Their Froggie Boy Home!

And why is he called their Froggie boy?! F.R.O.G- Fully Rely On God. You've got to love that! I felt like our adoption put us in a great position to learn the truth of how the Lord provides. Doing two adoptions back to back must really impart the truth of how the Lord provides- not cheap, folks!

It goes without saying, but please consider any of the other offerings- not just my painting. Or, if you feel compelled to help but don't care about getting something in return, they have the ability to accept donations that are tax deductible. Every dollar counts.

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Speech Development

I don't want to stop being amazed at how far God has brought our little miracle in such a short amount of time. Dorothy is running around acting like a two year old now (the good and the frustrating!) and her language is advancing so well. I'm super proud of her and want to remember the hurdles she's overcome in less than three months home, and at only 2 years of age. She is getting REALLY good at repeating much more, but these are the words that she commonly says or signs without assistance. All of this is without the help of a therapist. We did go through the evaluation process for our Early Intervention program here in Tennessee, but have not yet received the results- so maybe she won't even need that!

VERBAL WORDS (most said with the sign language for the word, also)

hat

hot

‘nun (all done)

mama (Mommy)

dadt (Daddy)

Deeee (Dean)

up

eye

no

no (nose)

eee (eat)

uh-oh

poo-poo

seep (sleep)

bahhh (ball)

cup

hello

bye bye

ligh_ (light)

day doo (thank you)

cock (sock)

joo (shoe, said most often with the sign for ‘socks’)

cook (book)

ug (hug)

yes

apple

SIGN LANGUAGE

eat

more

water

thirsty

please

thank you

sleep

brush teeth

shoes

socks

cookie

book

all done

yes

apple

Christmas Favorites

I've taken a ridiculous number of photos in the past week (900+) while we had ALL of Eric's immediate family together (both sisters and their families, plus his parents!). The last time we were all together in one place was 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Dean and we were in California for Christmas. Seven years ago, there were 12 of us, now there are SIXTEEN. Wow. Getting an early Christmas present from Eric (a new lens!) only added to my shutterbug tendency.

So in jumbled order, here are the highlights:

Dorothy learned how to really work her way around an iPhone this week. She swipes, she makes calls.... I guarantee that Mom and Dad won't let her get away with as much as Uncle Aaron and Aunt Becky!

Eric and his dad

Rockin' out on New Year's Eve (before everyone hit a wall and fell asleep at 10pm)

Look at our little Drummer girl!

Tisra and Lael having tea at Homestead Manor Plantation with all the girls

Angie and Mom at Homestead Manor for tea. Brrrrr cold!

the most extensive tea menu I've ever seen.... hundreds!!! So hard to choose, but I went with Almond and Lael went with Snowflake (meant to taste like sugar cookies).

What??? No pinky extended? :-)

Pinkerton Park on a cold, cold day!

tire swings and me playing around with shutter speed

Little trouble maker (cute trouble maker!)

cousins at play!

The Dean

bundled in my Ella Roo carrier on a walk to the skate park. Dorothy slept her entire nap in this thing and I love, love, love it for its comfort. I feel pregnant when I wear it... carrying extra weight, but nicely distributed. (I think with it under my coat, I looked pregnant, too!)

Eric was the favorite uncle that night- he brought dry ice home from the grocery store.

Sisters on Becky's birthday "picnic" at the winery (with freezing temps, we camped out in the enclosed tent near the gas heaters)

Cousins! Lots of them!

Christmas dinner on Boxing Day (due to flight delays on Christmas Day)

our family of SIX. (still weird to say at times) :-)

Christmas dinner. Becky and Aaron.

Christmas morning hugs with Grandma captured by Papa

Dorothy's first Christmas presents with her FAMILY! (assisted by Grant at first- then, she needed *no help* and began tearing into presents that didn't belong to her! Ha!)

Favorite gift to the boys this year- Tony Hawk Ride.

Christmas Eve fondue.

Chocolate fondue