Bunny Prep

Well, Amy and I just finished filling over 60 eggs for the boys for this year's Easter.  Yes, it seems like a lot, but each is only filled with a few pieces of candy, and there are some filled with some change.  They love putting money in their jars.  We are going to get them on the Dave Ramsey plans for kids when they are a bit older.  For now we are just trying to teach them to "save".  They will not make the mistakes we made with money, that's for sure.  But I digress.  This morning has been one busy blur of a Good Friday.  I woke up at 6:15 this morning to find Amy awake since 5:30 and the boys since 6:00.  Amy was already hard at work cooking and preparing for the coming holiday festivities.  We were just talking the other day about how everyone loves the Easter holiday, but nobody every actually "rests" over this vacation.  It is always go go go, this year will be no different.

After lunch today we head to the mall to meet my Mom who is getting an iPhone!  She lost her other one and she has wanted an iPhone since we got ours last year.  So, Amy and I have converted another person to the iPhone.  I am so excited!  Plus we get to go to the Mac store which is always fun.  After that we will be going to their house to help her set it up and learn it.  Tonight we will go to the 931 Good Friday service with Mom.  I am super excited about this because they always lead such an amazing Good Friday and Easter worship.  I know it is going to be an awesome experience, as 931 typically is.
 

Tomorrow we head to Amy's Mom's house to dye eggs with Amanda and her kids so the boys are super excited about that as usual.  I think right now we are bringing about 3-dozen eggs!  The kids are so cute when dyeing the eggs though, I can't wait for the cute pictures.  We will eat lunch there and head back home to get ready for an evening with friends.  Our college friend Niki and her husband David are coming to Houston today so we will be getting together with them and Sarah & Nathan!  It'll be a like a college days reunion!  We live fairly near Sarah and Nathan but never see them due to such busy schedules.  We haven't seen Niki in 5 years since Sarah and Nathan's wedding so that should be fun.  The boys are coming with us so I know they will charm everyone there once they get over their initial shyness.

Sunday brings Easter morning worship at 931, which I'm also pumped about!  We didn't get to it last year so I am excited for our first time.  After service we will head to Amy's Mom's for Easter lunch/dinner.  Celebrating Thanksgiving with my side of the family and then Easter with Amy's has been a good compromise that seems to work well with everyone.  Then Monday, maybe, might bring some rest and relaxation.  But that remains to be seen, we'll see if anything pops up before then.
 

So, with a hectic schedule, bags of Easter goodies that the Easter bunny will bring the boys, and a fridge that smells like fart we enter Easter vacation.  I know it will be crazy, but it will also be filled with fun, memories, and some great worship experiences.  As usual though I'm sure we will feel like we need a vacation to recover from our vacation!  

All is well, and hopping along, in Drosche Land.

Ladybugs

So yesterday's post centered around Braeden and his newfound handwriting skills.  Today is Jackson's chance in the spotlight.  A few things Jack is not - quiet, subtle, meek.  Quite the opposite in fact - loud, boisterous, a force to be reckoned with.  And we would have it no other way!  Under that dominant exterior is my little gentle giant and today we got a wonderful glimpse into this side of him.  Jack is not a fan of insects, often pointing them out in a frantic manner.  Also, for some reason he insists that every bug he sees is a ladybug - although we have no clue why it is a source of amusement for us.  Coincidentally, we have a very large number of ladybugs in our backyard now since we planted our nectarine tree.  This evening, while I was making pancakes (breakfast for dinner is one of our favorites) Amy went out with the boys in the backyard while they were playing.  She found one of the ladybugs on the nectarine tree and picked it off.  She knows I will not do this - I am not a fan of bugs.  This is possibly where Jack gets the slight panic from.  But I digress again.  Anyway, Amy got a ladybug and gave it to Jack, placing it in the palm of his hand.

Now, this could have gone terribly wrong.  Jack is not known for grace and finesse.  However, it was very much the opposite.  He carefully held the ladybug in his hand and walked around.  It was so sweet to see him so gentle and caring.  He often is this way with Lucy, when he's not trying to ride her, and it is just one of the many facets of Jack that make him our special little guy.  I knew right away that this event was blog-worthy and Amy watched the pancakes while I grabbed my ever-present iPhone and snapped away.  The results are below and capture the true Jack - silly and sweet.  My favorite part is when I asked him to hold his hand still so I could get a good picture of the ladybug in his hand.  He literally held his hand with his other hand.  This can be seen in the picture.  It was great!  Of course, the ladybug flew away eventually and this did not make for a happy Jack!  But with a little consoling and dinner he was fine.  I'm nearly positive that whenever we are in the backyard, Jack will now insist on finding and holding ladybugs!  What a great kid!

All is well, and nature loving, in Drosche Land.

Jack showing off his ladybug

 

The ladybug - notice Jack "holding" his hand still!

The Writing's On The Wall

Well, it seems that many a blog entry will be about our rapidly growing boys.  Just as I finish yesterday's entry about haircuts, hot on its tail is today's entry.  So, last night was Amy's monthly staff meeting with her workers at TLCC.  Usually I just pick up some McDonald's for the boys and take them to my room to eat and play until it is time to get Amy.  However, last night was different because Amy ordered pizza for her staff.  She's so thoughtful that way!  So, I stayed at the Center with the boys, in the front office and we all had pizza for dinner.  I was a little nervous because they tend to get a little, ok a lot, hyper when we stay at the Center.  I really wanted to fight the procrastination monster and get some coursework done.  Luckily there was paper, crayons, and a basketball.  We were set.  I gave the boys some paper and crayons and told them to draw pictures.  They did, for about 10 minutes, then that was done.  Braeden brought me his picture and it was so cute - it was a picture of me!  The typical little drawing of a big circle with two dots (eyes) and 4 lines sticking out (arms & legs).  My heart melted and I told him I would keep it.  The rest of the evening went well as they rolled the basketball to each other and played until it was time to leave.
Fast forward to this morning.  The boys are sitting at the counter eating breakfast as usual while Amy and I packed lunches.  I pull out Braeden's picture to put it in my bag and take to work so I can hang it up.  Lo and behold I totally missed something last night!  He wrote his name!  By himself!  With no help!  Now, he has written before mind you, but never without coaxing from someone and NEVER this neatly.  I have to admit - I was moved and got a little weepy.  It was beautiful.  Suddenly my little baby boy was gone.  Here was a kid - writing and spelling his name to me, beaming as he did so!  I was shocked and I don't think I have ever been as proud of him as I was right then.  Ahhhh, another bittersweet moment in their lives.  Happy/sad, wanting him to grow up/wanting him to stay little.  This time though, I think my pride and happiness edged out the bitter sweet.  He is so wonderful and we cannot believe how big he is getting.  It seems like just yesterday we were changing diapers, then not long ago we were bemoaning the fact that his handwriting looked like it was done by an epileptic foot.  But now he is over that, and how!  Just see below for yourself I type, with a grin ear to ear across my face at my biggest boy!

All is well, and handwritten, in Drosche Land. 

A Cut Above The Rest

 So, this blog may be a few days late in coming, but contains good news.  But I will start off by saying that I fully intend to blog more often, my goal is to do so daily like many of the great blogs I read and follow.  However, sometimes when I look at what is going on with me, I reach blog block.  Nothing seems blog-worthy.  I will say though that I originally started this blog with the title of "Blog Block" and how sometimes I find it hard to think of things to write about.  As I was writing that a new topic came to mind, and suddenly I felt much better about my blogging skills.  But I digress, back to the point of this post.

Saturday was a momentous day in Drosche Land.  Braeden got his hair cut for the first time without crying!  True, he whined a bit, but that is far from the knockdown, drag-out fits he used to throw when it came time to cut his hair.  I have to give it to Amy though; she has the patience of a saint.  She cuts the boys' hair and the reason is two-fold.  Initially it was to save some money.  They're still young and there is no reason to spend a fortune on their haircuts when it is so simple.  However, after our initial attempts long ago, the found the second reason to cut their hair at home - the near hysterics each of them reached when the time came to trim.  However, that seems (mostly) behind us now!  I say mostly because Jack's experience on Saturday was not perfect, but still a far cry from what it used to be. 
 
Granted Amy used a scissors rather than the clippers (even though the clippers would have been twice as fast), per the boys' request, but it went quite well.  As happy as we were about it, it was yet another reminder that they are growing up - all too fast!  There are so many times lately when we look at them and are shocked at how old and mature they are.  I guess it is one of those bittersweet parts of parenting.  You want them to grow up and become self-sufficient, yet you want them to stay young and need you.  It's a never-ending struggle.  Personally, the older they get the more I realize I am not done having children.  It just gets me more excited about the adoption and confirms for me that this is what is meant for us.  It also makes it a bit easier to swallow the fact that the boys are growing up, because I know there will be more little Drosches to come.  But until then, we rejoice in the progress and accomplishments the boys make each and every day!

All is well, and neatly trimmed, in Drosche Land.

Braeden and his new haircut

Jack and his new haircut

 

Not Right Now - 2

Well, we had yet another instance of "Not Right Now" yesterday.  With the weather beginning to heat up the van is acting up again with its sluggish response when you press on the gas.  It hasn't done it all winter, but is occasionally doing it now.  We had it looked at several times last summer and no one could ever find out what was wrong.  Well, we thought that maybe we should look into a new car before it gets bad again.  Plus, it wouldn't hurt to downsize a bit either.  So we packed up the boys and headed to CarMax.  We had done some research before so we knew what we could afford and what we were looking for.  We also knew we were upside down in the van, so any loan we took out would have to include the negative equity in it.  Finally, we knew how much we had to spend in order to keep our monthly payments about the same.  At CarMax we checked out the three cars we had in mind - the Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue.  The CR-V was not quite right, we didn't like the inside or general layout.  We loved the storage space on the Rav4 but when Amy test-drove it she said it was cramped feeling and bouncy.  So, we decided on the Rogue.  It was spacious, comfortable, and had some nice upgrades and amenities.  We decided to take the plunge; keeping in mind we had the walk-away power to leave if it wasn't going to be a fit.  We knew buying a new car wasn't really according to Dave Ramsey's plan, but we needed a reliable car that wouldn't fall apart on us.  So after much waiting we got our results back.  It was a no go.  Not because of our credit or anything, we were just too far upside down in the van.  The banks only will allow you to have negative equity up to a certain percentage of the price of the new car.  We were able to get a good interest rate and a monthly payment similar to our current one; we just didn't have the cash the loans were requiring to offset the negative equity.  So, once again we get our answer of "Not Right Now" from God.

But again, it's ok.  We will survive.  The good news is that we were able to get a good interest rate and monthly payment on 0% down!  If we were less upside down in the van or owned it outright, we would be fine.  That is good news in and of itself.  The only bit of bad news we got was the fact that CarMax will not buy a car with more than 100,000 miles on it, the van is at 90,000.  So, we are stuck with the van.  No worries though, the plan now is to just pay off the van and get a new car later.  More good news is that since we got the good interest rate and 0% down we wanted, we might be able to buy an actual new car when we do decide to get one.  So, once again we are given this answer and we accept it.  It'll give us time to pay off our credit cards and get everything squared away for the adoption and a new car later.  We have grown up quite a bit in the past year or so since we began the Dave Ramsey plan and became involved in 931.  We are more accepting of God's plan for us and more willing to follow along rather than try to lead.  It is comforting to know that all will be ok.  Thus is the inspiration from a verse Amy found - Jeremiah 29:11.  This has become somewhat of our mantra as we enter the adoption process, but really is something we try to keep in mind in all areas of our lives.  It's on the main page of this blog because it has become so important to us.  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Amy is great at finding applicable verses for situations and feelings.  Another one of her many talents.

All is well, even with the answer of "Not Right Now", in Drosche Land.

Not Right Now

So we're taught as children that God answers all prayers.  It might now be the answer you want at that very moment, but it's answered.  We're also taught that God answers prayers with 3 answers: "Yes", "No", and "Not Right Now."  Well, we were given a very good "Not Right Now" example just yesterday.  As much as Amy and I plan things out, we often make major life decisions spur of the moment.  2 great examples are our house and the van.  The adoption process however, is not going to be such an event.  Since submitting our application for the Waiting Child Program we have been perusing the shared lists.  This is a list of all children from China in the Waiting Child Program.  Agencies across the nation have access to this list so there are many children on it.  Well, yesterday morning Amy calls me and tells me to come over to the Children's Center.  I assume that one of the boys has been crazy and I am being called over to help out by disciplining him.  It wouldn't be the first time, and I know it certainly won't be the last.  However, when I arrive, I find Amy looking at the shared list on her computer.  There is a picture of an adorable little girl, about Jack's age.  Her special need is listed as clubfoot and DD.  Through much research and discussion Amy and I have completed our list of special needs that we will be able to care for and clubfoot is on that list.  At the moment we were unsure about what DD might be.  So, I tell Amy to call the lady at the agency and inquire about the little girl, it couldn't hurt right?

Well, long story short, Amy gets in touch with the lady at our agency that is in charge of placements and the list.  DD refers to developmental delay although details of what this might be are sketchy and often completely unknown.  We wouldn't know anything for sure until we requested the little girl's file so we could review it.  However, at this point Amy asks if there is any way around the age limit; remember per Chinese law both parents must be at least 30.  The answer is no, no waivers for this requirement.  So, the process is definitely on hold for the next year and a half until we both turn 30.  However, we are not saddened or disappointed.  In fact, we feel quite the opposite.  It is God's answer for us, telling us that it is not in our plans, at least "not right now."  Instead, it seems to support our original plan of paying off all of the credit cards and car before the adoption process officially begins.  A perfect answer for us.  We will have the time to research, pray, and mentally, emotionally, and financially prepare.  That is just fine with us.  We are quite at peace with everything.  Obviously we would have to be either way since there is no way around this requirement, but it does help to be truly alright with the answer we are given.  It WILL happen, we WILL get our daughter.  Just "not right now."

All is well, with answered prayers, in Drosche Land. 

Not So Picky Eaters

Well, this post was originally supposed to happen Monday evening.  However, due to problems with my iPhone app, and then my own stubbornness it is just now getting posted.  So here goes.

It is no secret that our boys are picky eaters.  Well, maybe I mean were picky eaters.  It seems lately they have gained an insatiable appetite.  Amy and I are quite pleased with this honestly, however, we still don't really know what to make of it.  Case in point, this past Sunday.  The boys each ate a granola bar at home before we came to church.  This is typical since there are always such great pastries and breads at 931 and they love to eat there.  However, this past Sunday was a bit different.  We had to be at church a little earlier than normal because there was a special breakfast being hosted by Trinity's Tiger PAC (parent association).  Well, once we arrived there the boys decided to strap on their feedbags!  Braeden ate an entire egg & cheese taco and a couple of handfuls of grapes.  Jack at about 8 strawberries, many many grapes, and a slice of bacon.  They would have eaten more, but we had to get to church!  Upon entering the gym for 931 they were both still starving so they split a huge cinnamon roll and ate the entire thing.  As usual, when we got home it was time for lunch.  Keep in mind this is only about 2 hours from the cinnamon roll.  For lunch each of the boys ate a leftover Whataburger chicken strip (see previous post about breaking Lent), a bag of chips, and they split a small leftover order of french fries.  After a failed nap, they each ate a container of yogurt that barely held them from a further starvation meltdown until dinner.  Oh about dinner!  Amy made enchiladas!  Whoa, boy were they good!  But I digress.  Each boy ate 1 1/2 enchiladas, rice, and corn.  We were astonished that they could even eat any more food at this point.  We were wrong though, because less than an hour later they were snacking on cocoa puffs!
 
This trend continued Monday, the original post date for this entry, when they totally devoured ravioli, bread, and veggies.  The surprise of the night came when Jack discovered his love of lima beans (see pics below)!  He had several of these in addition to the copious amounts of carrots he also ate (by far his favorite veggie).  I say surprise but it wasn't so much of one because Jack is our one who will pretty much try/eat anything!  He's definitely our Mikey to quote Amy ("Give it to Mikey, he'll eat it!")  Braeden wouldn't try the lima beans, no surprise there though.  His surprise moment came when he enthusiastically ate carrots!  Typically even getting him to give them, or any vegetable for that matter, a taste results in much whining, crying, and gagging!  But all of that seems to be, hopefully, behind us?!?!

Who knows how long this new love of food will last?  It doesn't really matter; we are simply loving it as long as it lasts.  Although, as happy as we are about it, there is the nagging fear that we have faced that if this continues they may be eating us out of house and home!  But, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.  Until then we just rejoice and eat!

All is well, and well fed, in Drosche Land.

Jack showing off his lima beans!

 

 Yum!