Do you wanna build a snowman?

  

Of course, she named him Olaf and he likes warm hugs 😊

when we came in she was saying "buy Olaf!  We'll see you later!"

Look at the moon!

Daughter loves to look at the moon.  We find the window in the house that we can see it from, and we just stare at it and talk.  Mostly just "It's so beautiful!" kind of stuff.

I think this is her first "obsession" that we're going to take as a learning experience.  I've heard from homeschooling friends that they allow their children to follow passions and research them.  This doesn't seem like "school" to the kids then and they learn a lot because it's what they want to be studying.

So, next time at the library, we're getting moon books! :)

Pre Natal Appointment

I went with Birth Mother to another pre natal appointment.  It went great!  Everything seems to be on course for the due date.  I heard the heart beat again!

It's so surreal. 

We have so much to do!  I got done with my Christmas shopping today.  Woot!  That's one thing off the list. 

One month to go!

Hide and seek...

I love to play hide and seek with Daughter.  It's so cute!

First of all, when I hide in a new spot, she can't find me forever no matter how obvious it is.   

My interpretation of what goes on in her head...
Why is the shower curtain closed all of the sudden?  The thought doesn't bother her in the slightest.  Why is my play tent bouncing as though someone is in there stifling giggles?  Huh, that's a bit odd.  Why has the quilt on the bed suddenly grown?  No worries... I'll just start to call "Mama... where are you?"

Generally, I won't say anything until she's at least in another room; but when I do call her name she says, "Mama, I can hear you!"

Eventually I either give myself up by talking to her when she's in the room, popping out when she's near, or just wandering out and saving the hiding spot for a later game.  We laugh.  It's so much fun!

Then  it's my turn to count.  As I'm doing so, she inevitably comes and touches me.  She either taps me or just lays a hand on me, either way, I know right where she is before I open my eyes.  Then when I am done counting, I grab her and tickle her.

We laugh.

Oh, how I love hide and seek.  :)

Daughter's speech class

Daughter has been taking speech classes twice a week since September.  It's going OK, I guess.

Today, after no classes for almost 2 weeks, she did awesome!  Usually she cries when I leave her in there (and I sit right outside the door waiting to be called in at the end), and today she cried a bit, but she did awesome!  The next boy got there before they had called me, so he went in... Daughter and Speech Lady were just playing word games and having a blast!  They didn't realize they'd gone over the time!

Daughter actually threw a tantrum and I had to pick her up to make her leave.  So totally the opposite of what has happened previously!

In other news, a few night ago she climbed into our bed and asked daddy for "Mickey phone"- meaning she wanted to watch Mickey on his phone.  She was pretty shocked when he got this out... but she ended up loving it!

Pre natal visit

I went with to a pre-natal visit last week.  I heard Son's heartbeat!  mat couldn't make it but I recorded it for him :)

Birth Mother introduced me as the adoptive mother to the nurse and the doctor.  :)

She also gave me a gift!  All of the free samples and coupons she's been getting because she's pregnant and a very cute and soft Winnie the Pooh receiving blanket that she had picked out at First Choice Clinic (a pro-life organization to help pregnant women and mothers in need with education and basic needs).

I got some answers from the doctor and the visit went well.  Then we went out to lunch and got to talk a bit more.  It was great!

She has another appointment in a couple weeks.  I'm invited again! 

So exciting :)

Adoption brain...

I really think it's worse than pregnancy brain.  Not only do I have all of the stresses (and joys!  miraculous joys!!!) of being about to bring home a baby, but rather than 9 months to prepare, I only have 2 (if that!)!!!

Seriously... every little thing that I do seems to take twice as long.  My brain won't stop running a mile a minute!  I need to do this... I need to do that... I need to do the-other-thing-that-I-can't-think-of-right-now-because-my-brain-isn't-working-right!

We can do it.  We can do it.  We can help our Cinderellie...

Tis but one example of how my brain is working these days.  ( did I mention daughter is now really into Cinderella?)

We're going to have a baby!!!!!!  :D

It's official

We're "matched"

CFLS waiting families

Match meeting!

While Daughter and I were driving home on Monday, we got a call... it was CFLS, our adoption agency.  I saw it on the caller ID but never answer my phone while I'm driving.  I thought what if this is the call?!? but then made myself not get my hopes up and assumed it was just a call to check in.

We pulled into the drive way a few minutes later and the phone chimed (come to think of it, I still haven't listened to the message) and I thought that must have been a pretty long message.  So I got Daughter inside and went to the bathroom, then was going to call them back.  I looked at my phone and I had 2 new texts from Mat...

"We need to call back SW ASAP today about something.  I'm in a meeting and can't call until 1:30.  Can you call and let me know what time works for you both this afternoon?? Love you!"

and

"text me when you read this"

Eeeep!  So I called... and then she wanted to talk with both of us, would that evening work?  We were going to take Daughter Trick or Treating... so we did an immediate conference call with Mat at work and me at home (after turning on a movie to entertain Daughter while I was on the phone)

We'd been matched!  Eeeeeppppp!  The birth mother is due in January and chose us right away in August when she came to the agency, but they wanted to wait until she was sure about the adoption plan to fill us in.  SW gave us the details she had and asked us to pray about the adoption and give her a call the following day about whether or not we thought it was a good match.  When we hung up with her, Mat called home right away and we agreed instantly that it was a blessing!

So I was going to call right away on Tuesday, but our phone and internet were out, I could only text, so I asked Mat to call.  He set up a "match meeting" for Friday, today.

It went great!  She is such a wonderful selfless person.  We gave her a pair of TARDIS slippers to wear at the hospital (and before!) because SW had told us Doctor Who was something we had in common with her.  She loved them!  And she gave us the CD of the ultrasound from 2 months ago with a handwritten message on the cover "To: Parents.  Congrats! -(name of BM)"

How sweet!!!!

So do you want to see pictures of our Son?

There are pictures that prove he is a boy, but I won't post them ;)


We are so ecstatic!!!  Praise God!!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Nothing is finalized until termination of parental rights.  We're trying to guard our hearts, but it seems to us and the SW that she is really set with this decision.  She can change her mind though...  Please pray!

Long time no blog...

We went to Florida!

Daughter loved the ocean!  And, I must say, she enjoyed the ocean and pools more than she enjoyed Disney World (even though she did enjoy Disney).  A true Lehnertz!  She had a lot of fun playing with her cousins. 

Jesus and Me homeschool outing

I only have one pic to share, but Daughter loved it!

Because why not wear a bike helmet on the playground?

We met at a park. The kids played for a while then we did kickball. The preschoolers got to kick first with the big kids playing the field.  Daughter was awesome at kicking!  She kicked it right away and smiled the whole way to first base!  And she took a long route 😉

We have a play date set up with another pre school family. I'm so excited about our homeschool group!

Potty regression with a stubborn girl....

  Daughter was trained. We were done. Only pull-ups at night time/ nap time with 2-3 accidents per week. Then in the last two weeks she started having accidents and then being too stubborn to go when I asked/told her to. 

I Looked online and the suggestion is to not tell her to go to the potty- but have her "clean" every mess she makes. I've been doing that all day and she just doesn't care!  She'll happily play with poopy or wet panties until I notice and make her go to the potty and "clean up". 

This morning we went to town. Fun outing and a walmart run. I told her that if she has an accident, we'll have to go straight home so she had to go to the potty when she has to go. 

Worked until the drive home...

She tells me she has to potty. I pull over at a gas station.  I ask if I can pump gas first and she says no. We go inside. She says "mamas turn". Ok. So she needs me to go first?  Alright then. I go. She won't. I pull down her pants and stick her on the toilet. Nada. 

I get home to a wet daughter, car seat, and seat underneath it. 

No success today. She hasn't mentioned "potty" aside from our trip home this morning. 

3 is worse than 2 by far!

Gopher hunting

We've got a gopher problem. Luckily, we have barn cats...

They also eat the gophers that we trap. They really seem to enjoy them. So now they have a taste for them. 

They're getting so big!  Daughter loves playing with them. 

Kittens can get in the way....

Mat was trying to get some lights on the mower this morning and the kittens were very curious....

He said it was more distracting than when Daugter tries to help 😊

Fun day in town

Daughter really wanted to go to the library and zoo today. Why not?

So we went. 

I had a nice chat with the children's librarian while we were there. She said Daughter is looking more and more like me. 😊. I didn't say anything about EA. I generally use every opening to bring attention to it... But Daughter looking like me isn't really an opening- it's just a coincidence. 

Our agency called

Not THE call, just to check in. 

She said that birth mothers are interested in our profile and they really like our book. That's great!  

Other info that I got was that the meeting would come about one month before the due date of the future birth mother and it would be at the adoption agency. That's wonderful because when we had our group study back in 2012, they said a lot of adoptive families meet their birth families at restaurants. Daughter does not generally do well a at restaurants. 

So... Maybe there is a birth mother who they're still counseling who will choose us?  We can hope!!!!

Now 1 of 13 waiting families...

It's disheartening.

CFLS waiting families


I knew going into this that it averages about a year through this agency... but I was really convinced that a birth mother was going to see our profile and fall in love with us right away.  I'm still pretty confident that the right birth parents are going to choose us, but there just aren't any coming up through CFLS.  Only one couple has had a placement since we've been on the list.  1 match in 5 months....

I don't like those odds.

Please pray for us.

Weekend fun!

We had no plans this weekend. Woot!

So we enjoyed some quiet family time and we went to the zoo

This was Mat's first zoo trip if the year. Daughter was very excited to show the different animals to daddy!

When it rains it pours

Mat has strep... and so does Daughter.

Then this morning at three we awoke to a bad storm. The power went out, we got Daughter out of bed and into an interior room, and she and I hunkered down to watch movies on the iPad. So we were all up from 3-5 with the storm. We finally were past the worst of it and decided to try to sleep again.  I always have trouble sleeping in storms and without my fan, it was next to impossible. 

We woke up this morning to a downed play house 

Countless branches/trees

And 1.5 inches of rain

Mat got the play set righted, no pics of it.  It's still off kilter and broken, and the swing bar needs to be replaced. But he got it vertical again 

Thankfully there was no hail damage, broken windows, or roof damage (gotta love metal roofs!)

She's 3!!!!

Our precious little girl is now three!!!

She loved her new scooter and helmet!

We are so blessed to be her parents!  She's an exciting little girl!

Oh the cuteness!!!!!

Of course it's the same two kittens coming out to play, but they're all adorable.

The other two haven't come out to play with us yet. The calico (GoGo) started to come out yesterday but hissed at me when I got too close. The orange one (Fred) hasn't even wandered out of the box while we're out there.

Last night Barney (the stray tom cat that we think is the father) was on our deck and limping.  I also noticed that Silly had some injuries, so I think they may have fought the skunk off together?  Weird thought for a Tom to be protecting his kittens... but maybe he was protecting Silly while she was protecting her kittens?  He's around a lot and if he weren't the father, he'd probably have killed the kittens by now. 

Kittens!!!!!!

I had a horrible scare. Yesterday morning when I went outside I smelled skunk....

Yikes!  So I went to look under the car where they had been.  There were only two there.  Huddled and scared near the wheel (rather than in the middle where they had been).  I thought about grabbing them and getting them somewhere safe, but I thought Silly would try and I hadn't yet touched them- so I didn't know if they would freak out if I touched them. 

There were skunk tracks all around the car and it smelled skunky.  

This morning they were all gone and Silly smelled like skunk.  Not like she got sprayed, but the slight aroma.  I asked her to take me to her kittens, but she wouldn't.  Couldn't find them anywhere.

I bawled.

Then this afternoon I went out and she came to greet me.  I asked about her kittens and she went into the garage and looked toward a particular cluttered corner.  I made my way back there through the clutter, and there they were!  All 4 of them!!!!!!

The calico came out a bit but hissed at me.  The orange one wouldn't even come out.

But these two...

meet Honey Lemon

meet Wasabi

Meow!

happy mommy

Daughter had to come meet them

friendly kitties!

I can't express how thankful I am that they're all alive!  Silly is one amazing mama kitty!  How she got them all away from the skunk, I'll never know. 

Now we're 1 of 12 waiting families....

It started out with us being one of seven.  Then one family was matched and we became one of six!

The number of families has been climbing and now sits at 12.  It's a bit disheartening.  Our odds were better as one of 6 families, right?

I try not to look at it that way.  The right birth mother will chose us when the time is right. 

It's just hard.

Potty training update

Today is going great!  No accidents!!!!

She wanted to put on her swimsuit this morning... Even though it's storming out and we can't go in the pool.  She loves to swim!

Here's a pic from this weekend at a friends. 

Adoption news

News... Possible lead. 

A family friend is close to a new mother who recently had a baby and may be making an adoption plan for her baby. 

So the family friend is going to show the mother our web profile. 

Please pray for us!

Potty training attempt #948

Ok, maybe I was a bit hyperbolic with that estimate... But I think this time may do the trick!  It's the first time that she actually tells us (sometimes) when she has to go....

Back into the trenches of potty training....

Silly had her kittens!!!!

Thursday she was big pregnant, then she disappeared all day yesterday, then this morning she was thin. I knew!  

Thursday pic. Can't really see the belly, but it's there!

Today pic. 

I found the kittens under my old car. Lucky we don't drive it!  

They're way under there. I count 4, but there could be a fifth. There's a black one, an orange one, and two calico. 

My dad freaked me out today by telling me that raccoons are going to eat them. So I tried to get Silly to follow me into the corner of the garage/barn that I had nested for her.  When I was on my way back there, something moved. I was wearing shorts and unarmed aside from a pocket knife, so I figured We'd look into it later. For the time being, we put a couple of unopened live traps and a dog fence around 3/4 of the car that they're under. Silly can still get out fine, but hopefully it will be safer. 

I can't wait until I can see more of them!  Daughter is so excited!