NO WHITE BABIES

We had the best time at Goober's birthday dinner last night. He chose Johnny Carinos...which yet again  proves he is my son. Why? Well he knew that on Monday nights they have their 1/2 price family platters and he also knew he could call the shots on what we got there. ITS SUCH A GOOD DEAL!!! We had soup/salad/bread/italian nachos/ chicken parm with spaghetti and tiramisu for $26!!!! ANNNNDDDDD....we brought home a pound of leftover food I kid you not!!!!!  The dessert was free since it was Goobers birthday (another reason I know God handpicked him for us, we share this HUGE LOVE of Tiramisu) but feeding 5 people for under $30 and bringing home so much is such a killer deal!

I chose to have their bread, house salad and split the nachos with everyone instead of eating the chicken parm...it looked delicious but would have sent my calories soaring...and I still left completely stuffed!

Now onto the topic of conversation for the night. Adam and I have been praying through some big decisions for our family...whether or not to adopt again. If I am being honest I must admit that I was hoping their birthmother would have one more baby....thats being super selfish though since it also means she would give up one more baby. We want her to have a wonderful life and we want her to know the love of God....just in my mind taking more of my kiddos blood siblings seemed like the only way our family would grow. However, Baby Boy is 3.5 and we haven't heard from our adoption agency in over a year.

We are not 100% sure that another adoption is what the Lord wants for us but we are seeking Him to see if that is our next move and if so how, when, from where, etc. So we asked the kids "what do you think about us adding another child to the family". Here is a summary of that conversation.

Goober-"just not a white baby".
Mom/Dad-"why not white?"
Ribbit-"because it won't look like our family"
Mom/Dad-laughing "but we are white"
Goober-"yall are more peachy/red...we should get a black or chinese baby so it will look like us"
Mom/Dad-"what if mom got pregnant?"
Goober-"would yall love that baby more?"
Mom/Dad-"NO NO NO, are you kidding? We CHOSE YOU!! We FOUGHT FOR YOU!!!"
Goober-HUGE GRIN "oh I didn't know that"
Ribbit-"i just want a sister"....."a half white, half black sister"..."she can look like me".

Needless to say we went on to talk about how bringing in another kiddo would rock our world for a while and might throw us out of whack but that God calls us to love, whether its easy or not. We also said that they would have a HUGE RESPONSIBILITY to this new sibling, to treat them like family, BLOOD FAMILY...especially after Adam and I are dead and gone. They didn't understand the weight of that statement, and the won't for a while. But, Adam and I are more concerned that as they grow up they will want to know more of their biological past, who can blame them?...and if we introduced a child into our family who doesn't have those same ties they may feel very segregated from our family and after we die they may not feel like a part of our family.

For me, its the whole "what if" game....and I know in the end its not up to me to make my children's lives perfect. Its not up to me to try to figure out how everything will end up and how I can avoid disaster. Its just my responsibility to love my children, show them the love of God, point them to Christ, show them that God is our only hope in this ugly, scary, rotten, sinful world and pray that they will cling to Him and His truth.

I'll wrap up with sharing some more pictures from our vacay. We loved the fact that we got to spend so much time with family, but it also made leaving that much harder.

My sweet, loving, always FUN Aunt Robin came and stayed with us on the beach. She cooked dinner and breakfast for us and my kids gobbled it up. They said "its like a fancy restaurant"!! We loved having her and catching up!

About the same time my Uncle Paul and cousin Mason came to hang out too. We ate at the Grille with them, flew kites, swam and caught up on life. WE LOVE YOU BOTH!

Cuddling with Aunt Robin while the grown ups chatted.

Back on the beach being made into mermaids or as Baby Boy said "MerMans or MerBoys". They loved this!

This beautiful little girl is such a joy to my heart. She loves hard, plays hard and grieves hard...lots of tears when we leave family, friends or even when mommy leaves for workouts :(.

Kids turn at making Mom and Dad into mermaids. A lady was watching us and ran over to take pictures saying "this is too sweet a memory to miss!"

We loved our week at the beach!!!!

Mothers Day 2015

Mothers Day is always touchy around here. I, more than the kiddos tend to feel what I call "sympathy mommy guilt" for our birthmother. I know that I am far from perfect and for that I constantly find myself apologizing to my children, begging God to restore me, asking my husband to critique me, squeezing my children tighter at the end of the day......but I can't begin to imaging what she must go through every Mothers Day.

It's this weird feeling of being praised by my kiddos and husband and being told Happy Mothers Day all day long when all I want to do is cry and beg God to show mercy and reveal himself through salvation for her. Its one of those weird days when all other parents think "we" (adopted parents) would be the most happiest but in fact we feel the hurt and pain too of what once was. Its like that for their Homecoming and Gotcha Day celebrations too....celebrating what God has done but grieving for their loss and over what sin caused. There is always a little hint of grieving in our joy....a longing for all to be right and restored.

I read this article on Mothers Day this year and I ugly cried in my bathroom over it. It flooded my mind with memories of our 1.5 years total of trying to get all three kiddos officially adopted. It reminded me of how fragile our time was, how we treasured each minute with them since we never knew if it may be our last. How we continually fought for them without having the knowledge to know what we were fighting for. We didn't know any health background yet we fought to get the best healthcare and get all of the therapies/ screening offered. We didn't know their exact birthdates but we fought to get their socials changed quickly to make them safe.

2nd day of being home...playing at the park together

We didn't know their backgrounds but we had people prodding for any information they could get on them. What we did know was tucked inside a box of 3 ring binders on our dining room table and reading through them was a serious struggle....an event that took every ounce of physical and emotional energy I had left at the end of every night to pour through. We didn't know their favorite colors or foods so we offered up buffets and listened to them rattle off everything their little hearts wanted us to know.

Here is the article...

Dear Mom of an Adopted Child,
I met you in adoption education class. I met you at the agency. I met you at my son's school. I met you online. I met you on purpose. I met you by accident.
It doesn't matter. The thing is, I knew you right away. I recognize the fierce determination. The grit. The fight. Because everything about what you have was a decision, and nothing about what you have was easy. You are the kind of woman who Makes.Things.Happen. After all, you made this happen, this family you have.
Maybe you prayed for it. Maybe you had to convince a partner it was the right thing. Maybe you did it alone. Maybe people told you to just be happy with what you had before. Maybe someone told you it simply wasn't in God's plans for you to have a child, this child whose hair you now brush lightly from his face. Maybe someone warned you about what happened to their cousin's neighbor's friend. Maybe you ignored them.
Maybe you planned for it for years. Maybe an opportunity dropped into your lap. Maybe you depleted your life savings for it. Maybe it was not your first choice. But maybe it was.
Regardless, I know you. And I see how you hold on so tight. Sometimes too tight. Because that's what we do, isn't it?
I know about all those books you read back then. The ones everyone reads about sleep patterns and cloth versus disposable, yes -- but the extra ones, too. About dealing with attachment disorders, breast milk banks, babies born addicted to alcohol, cocaine, meth. About cognitive delays, language deficiencies. About counseling support services, tax and insurance issues, open adoption pros and cons, legal rights.
I know about the fingerprinting, the background checks, the credit reports, the interviews, the references. I know about the classes -- so many classes. I know the frustration of the never-ending paperwork. The hours of going over finances, of having garage sales and bake sales and whatever-it-takes sales to raise money to afford it all.
I know how you never lost sight of what you wanted.
I know about the match call, the soaring of everything inside you to cloud-height, even higher. And then the tucking of that away because, well, these things fall through, you know.
Maybe you told your mother, a few close friends. Maybe you shouted it to the world. Maybe you allowed yourself to decorate a baby's room, buy a car seat. Maybe you bought a soft blanket, just that one blanket, and held it to your cheek every night.
I know about your home visits. I know about your knuckles, cracked and bleeding from cleaning every square inch of your home the night before. I know about you burning the coffee cake and trying to fix your mascara before the social worker rang the doorbell.
And I know about the follow-up visits, when you hadn't slept in three weeks because the baby had colic. I know how you wanted so badly to show that you had it all together, even though you were back to working more-than-full-time, maybe without maternity leave, without the family and casseroles and welcome-home balloons and plants.
And I've seen you in foreign countries, strange lands, staying in dirty hotels, taking weeks away from work, struggling to understand what's being promised and what's not. Struggling to offer your love to a little one who is unsettled and afraid. Waiting, wishing, greeting, loving, flying, nesting, coming home.
I've seen you down the street at the hospital when a baby was born, trying to figure out where you belong in the scene that's emerging. I've seen your face as you hear a nurse whisper to the birthmother that she doesn't have to go through with this. I've seen you trying so hard to give this birthmother all of your respect and patience and compassion in those moments -- while you bite your lip and close your eyes, not knowing if she will change her mind, if this has all been a dream coming to an abrupt end in a sterile environment. Not knowing if this is your time. Not knowing so much.
I've seen you look down into a newborn infant's eyes, wondering if he's really yours, wondering if you can quiet your mind and good sense long enough to give yourself over completely.
And then, to have the child in your arms, at home, that first night. His little fingers curled around yours. His warm heart beating against yours.
I know that bliss. The perfect, guarded, hopeful bliss.
I also know about you on adoption day. The nerves that morning, the judge, the formality, the relief, the joy. The letting out of a breath maybe you didn't even know you were holding for months. Months.
I've seen you meet your child's birthparents and grandparents weeks or years down the road. I've seen you share your child with strangers who have his nose, his smile ... people who love him because he's one of them. I've seen you hold him in the evenings after those visits, when he's shaken and confused and really just wants a stuffed animal and to rest his head on your shoulder.
I've seen you worry when your child brings home a family tree project from school. Or a request to bring in photos of him and his dad, so that the class can compare traits that are passed down, like blue eyes or square chins. I know you worry, because you can protect your child from a lot of things -- but you can't protect him from being different in a world so intent on celebrating sameness.
I've seen you at the doctor's office, filling out medical histories, leaving blanks, question marks, hoping the little spaces don't turn into big problems later on.
I've seen you answer all of the tough questions, the questions that have to do with why, and love, and how much, and where, and who, and how come, mama? How come?
I've seen you wonder how you'll react the first time you hear the dreaded, "You're not my real mom." And I've seen you smile softly in the face of that question, remaining calm and loving, until you lock yourself in the bathroom and muffle your soft cries with the sound of the shower.
I've seen you cringe just a little when someone says your child is lucky to have you. Because you know with all your being that it is the other way around.
But most of all, I want you to know that I've seen you look into your child's eyes. And while you will never see a reflection of your own eyes there, you see something that's just as powerful: A reflection of your complete and unstoppable love for this person who grew in the midst of your tears and laughter -- and whose loss would be like the loss of yourself.

Mommy got to pick all of our activities for the day. So we all went to the weight room together...These two sat on my feet for ab work, see Goober in the background watching the computer???

Family pic before church. You can also see my new Vera Bradley tote that Adam secretly won for me at Bennetts Bash the Thursday night before.

They may not have my smile or my eyes but they have my whole heart!

Mommy chose to eat at CoCo's tea room in my favorite antique mall. I had asparagus/ ham quiche and tomato basil soup. The kids had grilled cheese and cheeseburger sliders. Adam had the Reuben and potato salad.

Mango Chai to drink! YUMMY

Our Exclamation Point!!

As one of our sweet friends said today "Baby Boy is the exclamation point to your family".

In other words he completed our family and in a very exciting way!! I always refer to his homecoming day as the biggest SHOCK and most JOY we have ever felt at one time.

We never thought we would be able to adopt a newborn. We didn't necessarily want a newborn, we wanted kids who weren't wanted....sibling groups, mixed race kiddos, those who been passed around the foster system.

In the same breath we also wanted to keep our kiddos siblings together and so when we found out that there was a half brother up for adoption we didn't even hesitate. In fact, just as God had physically prepared me for our first two with achy arms and visions of their names, he completely prepared me for Baby Boy. He put those aches back into my body and he also gently nudged us to say NO to another baby boy (who was not related to our kiddos) 2 months earlier.

Baby Boy was a drug baby and had to spend a lot of time in the hospital detoxing, going through seizures and being closely monitored. At the same time our foster care license had gone into remission, meaning that we could activate it with one or two classes and a new inspection. So after an 8 hour class on drug babies, side effects, medications needed and overall care.....the quickest home inspection ever in which we were forced to get rid of our trampoline....and an awesome group of church members who put together a nursery and baby proofed our home in 1 day...we got Baby Boy.

He was around 2 weeks old and from the minute he arrived his presence was known. CPS knew that we didn't have a clue what we were doing with a 6 year old and 18 month old...in fact at Ribbit and Goober's adoption hearing, our case worker told us that we were the youngest couple she had ever worked with but also the most changed from day 1 to adoption. We thought we had it together though from the start :).

With Baby Boy no one was fooled, we all knew that we had no clue what to do and that this was going to be different from our first adoption. Baby Boy does have the same mom as our first two but unlike our first two the supposed dad was still in the picture. He nor their birthmom had given up rights and he had family that wanted Baby Boy. We were so torn as to whether or not we should tell our kiddos that this was their brother. There was a 50/50 chance that he wouldn't be ours to adopt after several months...which we couldn't talk about without water works.

We decided to tell our kids though because we wanted them to cherish any time they did get with their brother. This also opened up several wounds for Goober and he had all sorts of questions. "Why does she still want him, but not me?" "Why does she give up her children" " Why did she name him _________". Things got even worse when she was granted a visit by the court......

The worst day of our lives happened when he was 5 weeks old, still considered a foster child, still taking a bottle with meds in it every 2 hours, even through the night. We begged to be allowed to drive him 2 hours away to have the visit but we were denied. We begged to have another judge deny the visit but it still happened. We had friends volunteer to run away with him for the day....WE LOVE YOU FOR THAT ;). But that day came and ended with an Amber Alert being issued for our son.

Our 5 week old son went missing and no one could tell me where he was, not our adoption agency who put out the alert, not CPS who later would have charges pressed against them by our agency and fined. Not even the CPS driver who showed back up several hours late with him and told me to "calm down, you are just the foster mom"....she saw the worst part of this mama bear, closest I have ever come to slugging someone. 

All we know is that he was breastfed with drug milk, fed french fries, broke out all over his body the next day, ended up back at the doctor and our privacy, confidentiality and safety of our other two children were all compromised.

That day was awful for all of us but especially for Goober who several times was in the fetal position in his bed worried about policemen, his brother, what his "mean mom" may do to him and why Mom was screaming in the front yard.

After that all court visits were denied, even though she kept requesting. We wouldn't have allowed it anyways. We would have gone to jail rather than to hand him over again. Eventually her rights were removed and we were granted his adoption. My hearts prayer was that he would be a part of our forever family by his first birthday, Feb. 24th. We drove to his adoption court hearing on Feb. 22nd, were told the judge called in sick and so we waited for another one to hear our case. It was the longest, most exhausting day in court ever but we left as an official family of 5.

God has taught us many things through this little bundle of joy. He has taught me to seek him late at night....my nightly time with Baby Boy soon became times of prayer and worship. He has taught me that my children are precious and mine, I am their best advocate and He is their best protector. I have learned that all children come with baggage...even bio kids and that those who scoff at adopting "drug babies" haven't witnessed what we have with our 3 miracles. All they need is a chance, an honest fighting chance. A stable home, lots of good nutrition, someone who will take them to the doctor, someone who will tuck them in, someone who will clothe them warmly, someone who will speak about the redemption of the Lord into their lives.

I am so thankful to the Lord for my little exclamation point, my curly headed source of daily Joy and the shock to my system that I so obviously needed 3 years ago!

So HAPPY GOTCHA DAY to Baby Boy and EARLY BIRTHDAY to my Big 3 Year Old Man!!

Gotcha Anniversary

This week has been pretty fun....lots of changes to the Harvell home. Goob's room is almost completely painted....lacking some tough to reach areas. Baby Boy's room is fully cut in and is just waiting for mommy to roll on the gray and paint choo choo trains and Ribbit's fully remodeled bathroom is coming together.....Good thing we have Labor Day off!!!

We also start baseball and football this week, with mom already having 2 volleyball games a week and both mom and dad committed to a 11 week intense Alpha course at our church as table leaders....so the house is filthy and laundry is piled in a basket waiting to be folded.....ah well.

Saturday was our anniversary of our court date to finalize Goober and Ribbit's adoption. We celebrated with some time at Jumpstreet and a pizza lunch. Ribbit is finally starting to understand the word adopt....a little.....she giggles when we tell her that she didn't come out of mommy's belly. She also tells her stuffed animals that she would love to "dopt" them.

These anniversaries, although they are a very happy celebration for us are still very emotional and reminders to us that God's plan A for Goober and Ribbits life didn't work out. As usual, we spend a lot of time talking about their birthmom with Goober on these dates and every year he asks more questions and needs more explanations. This year he laid in his hammock (bottom bunk) while I painted his room and asked me all kinds of things like " will my birthmom go to heaven?, will my grandma go to heaven?, will my birthmom buy a home before I turn 18?, will I ever see my cousins again?". We basically talked about how his birthmom could go to heaven.....she did bad things but I do bad things too...salvation is not based on good or bad things we do but on our relationship with Christ and trust that he is the one true way to Heaven, to accept salvation. He said that his birthmom never went to church so we also talked about how church attendance, though extremely important in a christian's life, also doesn't save anyone and that his birthmom and grandma might just have mansions in heaven. He then said " well when I get to heaven I am going to make sure that my mansion is right between hers and yours mom" :)...pretty awesome thought for my little man. 

I also do a lot of thinking about being a mom on those days. I am always amazed that God allowed me to have these 3 stinkin cute faces call me mommy....I wonder who would be they calling mommy if we hadn't said yes to adoption. I also wonder how any mommy could give up on their kiddos, what kind of life would you have to be in to want to just call it quits? Certainly not a life I have ever been subjected to....but one that my little Goober probably remembers. Its such a picture of redemption though to know that Goober who has been told he wasn't wanted, has been forced to hug cousins and grandmas and mom's bye and load up in a car and was driven to my home and told "heres your new family" all at the age of 6.....but to now see this little boy who after I bought him all of his baseball equipment yesterday pulled money out of his wallet and said " here mom, sorry all of my stuff was expensive, thanks for buying it" and this same little boy takes money to church every Sunday without being asked so he can give some to God, and this same little boy gave away all his brand new art supplies to orphans in Haiti, and this same little boy prays for people and situations during our family prayers without being reminded. God has big plans for my little man.

Harvell 5

Yesterday, February 22 we became an official family of 5. Baby Boy's adoption took twice as long as Goober and Ribbits and was four times as heart wrenching and uncertain. We had about 4 possible court dates that were all cancelled or moved for one reason or the other. So, imagine just how MAD we were yesterday morning, after driving for 2 hours, when we got a phone call from Baby boy's attorney saying that the judge would not be in that day. We were only 5 minutes from the court house and Adam and I were fuming the whole way there. It was a combination of sooo many things that upset us.....a)we were arranging this date around 5 parties that had to be present and none of them seemed to be able to line up with dates that worked for our schedule, b)our own arrow worker bailed out a week ago but the court agreed to let another lady represent us to the judge on her behalf, c)I only have so many maternity days to use and subs for art class are limited...there was no way I was going to get another "paid" day off and line up another sub and write out another days worth of  sub plans, d) THE MOST IMPORTANT..we wanted Baby Boy to be a Harvell on his 1st birthday, which is tomorrow....and we were already pushing it :)

We went into the courthouse and found our attorney who seemed to think that another judge would see us that day. He went off to do some convincing and we found everyone else who was supposed to go in with us . When the security guard announced that all 9:30 adoptions should enter the courtroom we scooped up all our kiddos and walked in. Our attorney was up front and looked surprised. He said "did they tell you to come in?" We said "no, but we aren't leaving here without an adoption". So sure enough the judge there officiated ours and another adoption back to back.

Our adoption was second, thank the Lord. I was so embarrassed and sweaty by the end of ours and thankful that all the people from the first adoption didn't have to sit through our drama. First, Ribbit was in a mood that she gets in about once every couple of months...the kinda mood where she needs 55 love taps to get control over herself. Baby Boy hadn't had a nap, was off his schedule and acted as if someone had slipped him a Monster energy drink. They both wanted mommy, they both screamed and kicked for mommy. They both were begging for something to drink. Baby Boy's lawyer gave Ribbit a styrofoam cup full of water against our wishes. The minute Baby Boy saw that he begin reaching and grabbing for it, which made Ribbit scream and move it quickly which meant everyone was getting drenched. Adam and I were holding them, trying to answer the judges questions, answer the other witnesses' questions and keep from laughing. Somehow Baby Boy ended up grabbing the styrofoam cup, breaking it in his grip, while Ribbit tried to fling it away from him. That resulted in a rain shower that coated all 5 of us. The judge never broke a smile but kept asking us if we heard him. We felt like we couldn't walk away to calm them down or dry ourselves off so we just stood there soaking wet, sweating from the nerves and pressure and holding our screaming children whispering to Ribbit that she had a spanking coming and trying to distract Baby Boy.

The judge finally granted the adoption and the name change and we asked if we could take 2 quick pictures and get OUT OF THERE!!!  In our pictures you can tell that Adam is wet but the rest of our clothes don't show it. I had to completely change Baby Boy due to how soaking wet he was and you can see how upset Ribbit is in the picture. All the people with us kept asking us if we wanted more pics and we were like " nope, we are getting these children out of here!!!". We ferociously signed all of our paperwork, told everyone Thank You and ran out of the courthouse and straight to CRACKER BARREL!!! Pantycakes (Ribbit's word), biscuits, chicken fingers, bacon and chocolate milk somehow made everything better. All 4 of us (yup mom too) napped the whole 2 hour drive home.

We came home and opened up gifts from CC and Papaw while facetiming with them, ate dinner and hung out. WHAT A DAY!!!!!

I should say though that through it all we know that God has blessed us more than we deserve by growing our family and bringing 3 children into our home. We know that he knew the hiccups of yesterday and we feel that soon, not today, not tomorrow, but soon we will be able to laugh about it :).

Oooohhhhh GGGaaaaawwwwwdddd

Saturday I drove to Austin (3 hour drive) for a 1.5 hour meeting. It was mandatory in order to host our upcoming district meet. Adam had so much fun with the kiddos at a science center and kept me informed with photos all day long. The first photo was proof that he had buckled Baby Boy in to a cart....something that I overly obsess about :). When I got home later that night I asked me two older ones what the best part of their day was and this was their answers....
Goober ( my sweet sensitive boy)- ....when you came home Mom :)....melt my heart.
Ribbit (my sassy little thang)......when you left Mom : /....I took it as a compliment to Adam :).

Ribbit has also been looking for God lately. We keep talking about how he is everywhere and how he lives in Mommy, Daddy and Goober's heart. In a very high pitched voice she will say "OOOOHHHHHHH GOOOOOOOOODDDDDD...sounds more like GGAAAWWWDDD"...and look around for him :).

We have been dealing with a lot lately for our adoption. It's almost like Satan is trying his best to keep our adoption of baby boy from becoming final. Today we were told that our 4TH COURT DATE is now not going to happen. I've stopped asking for days off because I just have to retract it the next day. This means lots of communication between us, our attorney, Baby Boys attorney, CPS and our adoption agency....apparently they all don't know how to contact one another so that leaves Adam and I to be on the phone and email all day. It also means more paperwork and more stress.

We want this adoption to happen so bad, so soon for several reasons.
1-we have been in this adoption for almost 1 year......thats a long time waiting to be legally recognized as your son's mother....letting others (cps) make decisions for you.
2-WE REALLY WANT him to turn 1 (on feb. 24th) as a Harvell....with a new middle name and his first name spelling changed. He won't remember it but its something that Adam and I have our hearts set on.
3-Baby Boy has to have surgery on his eyebrow soon. We have been watching a mass get larger and larger on his face and a pediatric surgeon confirmed our thoughts. However, we want this surgery to happen when Baby Boy is legally ours so that WE get to call the shots and we are recognized as parents to make decisions and be with him.

Wonder what I got for Christmas? Well I always talk about how I love the kids separated plates and how it keeps the food from running all together. Sooooo...Adam found me big girl plates that are separated....like cafeteria trays :)

One of my favorite pictures from this years christmas ..... ready to go to church with Papaw and CC.

1st Annual Gingerbread House Contest.....boys vs. girls. OF course the girls won :).

Look at that concentration...gotta get that gum ball on there just right.

The boys went big....a double decker house!

The Winners.....can I add that my children stayed up til 9:30 that night....2 hours past their bedtime....and only went to bed after Ribbit got a spanking.

Did you know?

Did you know that November is National Adoption Month?

Did you know that if one family from every church in the US would adopt one child there would no longer be a need for the foster care system?

Really? just one family? thats totally do-able, right?

It has to be do-able because God commands us to take care of the widows and orphans...

James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.”

Exodus 22:22, “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.”

·        Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”

·        Isaiah 1:23, “Your rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards.  They do not defend the fatherless.”

Deuteronomy 10:18, “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”

·        Psalm 10:14, “But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.  The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”

·        Matthew 18:5, “Whoever receives a child in My name, receives Me.”

·        Matthew 25: 45, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto Me.”

 Adam and I were talking the other day about how if the church acted like the church (ourselves included) then there wouldn't be a need for gov't handouts, medicaid, the foster care system, etc. People would turn to the church for help, not to the gov't. God never intended for gov't to be the cure. He intended for Christians to point the way to Christ who is the cure. If we tithed the way we are supposed to the church would have enough money to provide relief to those who need it. If we loved and took care of our families the way we should there wouldn't be a need for the gov't to step in and provide. If we took the bible for TRUTH and valued human life there wouldn't be the need for foster care or court cases to decide who gets to play God. Of course we are fallen, but for the love can we stop blaming our problems on the govt, and start BEING the church?

And...I'm done. That's it. Now on to my cute kiddos :)

Baby Boy decided that he likes to give kisses on the mouth...with his mouth wide open and the drool running! Its pretty dagum cute!

Goober had his last Upward football game for this season today. He cried when he told his coaches bye....he really enjoyed this season and he is ready to start another football team. As he was leaving one of his coaches gave him a big hug and told him that he was gonna be a pro-athlete one day....I appreciate people like that who encourage my boy!

Ribbit is still loving school but starting to get wayyy to comfortable with her teacher and class. Adam and I just had a teacher meeting due to our daughter mooning her whole class during naptime. And everybody said " good thing she is cute "....hehehe

Reformation Day at school...see the little black bug...thats Naphan..our best friend :)

Someone loves her teacher....this lady is a blessing (and a saint). When you get to heaven and see someone surrounded by jewels and crowns, its her...she is earning them everyday by teaching 7 3 year olds about Jesus!

 My loves. These are some of my 7th graders. We had cupcakes one day and very quickly it turned into cupcake facials....they are already pretty hyper...but add in cupcakes and anything goes!!!

 Chicken Treating!

 Such a good daddy!

 His froggy costume was too hot for the actual chicken treating so he wore his candy corn monster shirt instead ;). Oh, that little face...could just eat him up!

 Like I said in an earlier post, my kids were hauling major booty to get from one house to the next. I like this picture because they are both blurs...about how I remember that night. Goober is not worried about his leaving his sister and she is trying to beat him to the next "house she likes"

 We have been having lots of fashion shows lately with our winter clothes. I am not sure we understand the whole concept of mittens and socks....mittens on our feet and sock on our hands?

 Watching big brother play football....he is sooo fascinated by the camera!

 Big Man scored 6 touchdowns at this game....he said "that team was easy" but little does he know that they were probably the best team they had played all year. God has given him so much athletic talent.

Remembering 1 year ago!

Here is our post from what happened last year on this very special day.....what a blessing!

Who wants to cry?

I may need to do this in two parts. I have a lot to write down and I have a headache.
But I will start with this morning, Goober was in a great mood and as I walked away from dropping him off I heard him say " MOM". I was in the middle of hugging another teacher and left her to go see what he had in his hands for me. He gave me a piece of paper with a green heart and green cross drawn on it and said " Happy Adoption Day"...I thought to myself " he gets it". That was just reason #1 for not putting on any make-up until absolutely necessary today!
At 11:00 I went to check him out and his teacher said " Goob, make sure you give your mom what you wrote for her". She told me that he had worked hard on it that morning. He handed me an index card that said " Dear Mom, you are the best mom I have ever had...love , Goober". And that would be reason #2. It makes me want to hug him for days and days for the sweetness in those words and the very hard truth of his past in those words.
We got to the courthouse in their hometown around 1:00. I was glad to see them sleeping as we pulled in town  because I didn't want Goob to recognize anything and begin to dwell on his past. We immediately spotted our caseworker and she gave out hugs and helped us find the entrance. Once we all made it through the metal detectors (adam took a while because of his steel toed shoes :)), and got stickers from the friendly security guard we headed upstairs. We were immediately greeted by a swarm of people. Our caseworker from our adoption agency, our CPS caseworker, our attorney, the kids old CASA worker, the supervisors of CASA and several other people from the area who had worked with the kids in the past.I was so happy that they all came to be a part of our big day.
The next 15 minutes are a blur because we literally signed papers for three different deals and since we had to do it all today we couldn't make copies so we were signing our names one after the next, trusting that everything we signed was legit. Our attorney had us sign several things stating that we understood what was about to happen and how much court fees were. He then walked us through what was going to happen in the   courtroom and how we were to answer and what we could and couldn't do. Then we signed a ton more paperwork for CPS starting that we understood our responsibilities from here on out and that the children's birth county was releasing them to us. We also signed several things for medicaid and financial obligations. Then we signed paperwork for Arrow agreeing to be a full adoptive placement and that we were up to date on everything. Luckily, the kids love their CASA worker and she kept them busy walking them up and down the hallway.
We also spent some time explaining Ribbit's two new battle wounds. She has a bruise on her cheek from getting in a fight with the magazine holder, it won. She dented it but it left her with a nice blue bruise. Then, of all days, a little boy bit her on her arm today at preschool over a book. It looks painful and if I would have had time to put an outfit on her that covered it up I would have, but we didn't so that meant we had some explaining to do :)
Anyways, we were called into the courtroom soon after and of course Goob lead us up to the front row. There was an adoption trial right before ours but...did I get to see that one? Nope. Goob and Ribbit both had to use the bathroom at that moment....do or die!!! So we dashed to the bathroom, saw that the boys was out of order so I firmly encouraged Goober to just go in with me and his sister. I didn't want to keep that judge waiting.
We made it back in plenty of time and the judge called us up. Our three main workers came and stood with us. I'm going to write down as much as I can remember from the hearing but keep in mind I chased Ribbit around for a lot of it and held onto her as she screamed " down mommy".
The attorney introduced us and asked us to state our names. Then the judge asked us to swear in and testify by raising our right hands. Then the BEST part ( I thought ) was that the attorney noted that we came here today and have no relationship to these kids at the beginning of this hearing. Then he asked Adam several questions about the kids past, our qualifications and our intentions, all of which Adam answered Yes too. Then he asked me some questions and if I agreed with Adam said. Then he went over what we were requesting the kids name changes to be and asked us if we thought if it was in the best intentions for the kids to be with us. As we said Yes, Ribbit came and clinged onto my leg and said " mommy". Then the judge said " I am going to grant your wishes for the name change and even though you came here with no relationship to these kids you are leaving as birth parents with all the rights bound as such"....I LOVE THAT!!!. Then he read out loud each kid's new name and we high fived Goob and said " YES" and he said " Congrats". Everyone cheered and we started taking pictures. I think I will leave you with those pictures and go to bed. I will write about the rest of our GOTCHA day tomorrow. I am extremely drained emotionally and physically and life goes on tomorrow for the Harvell family of four!!

First full day as family of 5

Today was exceptionally good..probably because the grandparents showed up at 7 am....yup they drove in from Alabama all night.....good people!
Izzy woke up for 3 feedings and then let us know that he had two awful diapers last night..other then that pretty good sleeping. I took on last night and Adam let me get a 2 hour nap this afternoon so we are good to go. He has been a pretty easy baby..he only cries if he is getting hungry or needs a diaper change. Today we went through 2 outfits and daddy got sprayed twice...i have dodged the pee both times :).
Goober and Ribbit have kissed him, danced for him, sang to him, held him and yes, ignored him during today :). Goober had his last basketball game of the season this morning and so we all loaded up the van and went. Izzy slept through the whole game and only woke up to get a bottle as were leaving. Goober got 5 baskets, an all time high and even dove for the ball to knock it back in the court....he had lots of screaming fans :).
We are slowly getting down a routine...that is our second priority, making sure Izzy gets his meds and that he is detoxing well is our main goal. I may feel different about this statement at 3 am tomorrow morning but I can sleep when I am dead :).
We are reading Baby Wise and What to Expect during the First Year. We are also asking tons of questions and taking lots of advise from friends with younguns so I think we are good to go. It sounds a little weird but it really does feel very natural to have him here and it feels like the most natural way to grow our family right now.

Here are some more pictures from today and some videos.
He wanted to hold him so bad all by himself before his basketball game this morning :)....he is the happiest big brother.

 Cheese....big sister got some holding time too!

 Kisses from everyone :)

 This is how big girl watched all of Goober's basketball game...and yes, my dad does have a black eye, from a car wreck he was in not too long ago..looks real though huh?

 At bedtime tonight, all snug and ready for bed...crazy hair man :)

 Yes these are a bit repetitive but holy moly she loves this card that someone gave us to celebrate Izzy's homecoming. She danced with it for about 30 minutes, and then she and I circled the living room dancing to it and then freezing when it was over for about another 45 minutes. Thanks Clouses for almost 2 hours of entertainment :)