Big Boy Braden . . . and other stuff

We are so excited - Braden has used the potty chair several times in the last couple of days!! He asks for potty and then goes!!! We have had it a while and they both like to pretend to go - usually with their diapers on but all the sudden something is clicking in his little boy brain and he can do it! And I can already tell that Addyson is feeling a little left out. She talked and talked about the first time he used it - you could see her girly brain processing it all, because she just talked and talked and talked - you know how girls think, out loud!! And although she still has yet to be successful she is definitely more interested in it because Braden is. Maybe this twin competitiveness could turn out to be a good thing! We are soooo far off from even being any kind of potty trained, but it is so exciting that Braden can actually do it at all!!! Yeah!!!

This week we have been doing some ranching; yep, Addyson and Braden too. Ryan has been busy working cattle and then hauling them to grass. So we have spent some quality time around the moo cows and horses. They LOVE it!!! Watching the cattle jump off the trailer and run to pasture is super fun for them! Braden is having a great, great time with his daddy. He saw the truck outside this morning and told me about the whole process. Moo cow. In there. Get out. Jump. Run. Trailer. Daddy. Truck. Go? Then he runs in circles so excited that he gets to go with daddy. What fun times!!!

But of course I have no pictures of that. Instead here are some other things we've been doing:

some serious reading

Helping cook!! a.k.a making a fun big mess.

Addyson really likes to "cook". And they both love to check out the cookbooks while I'm cooking

Giving BIG hugs. They have started to really "squeeze" each other and be sad when they're apart.

Farming - Braden spends a lot of his time at the table with all his tractors, cars, and trucks. He likes to hook up some interesting combos of things pulling other things.

Making time for daddy and playing outside

Rocking

Picnicing - not one of Ryan's favorite things but I convinced him this beautiful day we had! Maybe this will be something the kids and I do when he is busy working this summer over mealtimes. Can you say easy cleanup?? - thank you Chloe and Maddie!

Adoption Update - Approved!!!!

We have received agency approval as well as from Russia to continue with the adoption process! On to looking over the contracts and making sure we understand as much as possible before proceeding further!

Easter

This was the first time we got to go as a family of 4 to church on Easter Sunday! We had a great time celebrating the resurrection. What a joyful time of celebrating with other believers! And also spending time with family.

Addyson and Braden were not excited about having their pictures taken, so this is the best we came up with!

They had fun hunting Easter eggs; they didn't care that it was cold and windy outside! Braden was pretty good at finding them. This was right down his alley; picking up things! Addyson had fun too.

Thankful

This Good Friday I am thankful that Jesus was willing to come to this wretched, awful earth and live among us sinful, evil humans. The ones he loved and created mocked him, hated him, and killed him. He was willing to give up his own will to his Father's even when that led to a cross and death. He has given us everything; he even died that we might live if we only accept his free gift of grace - the forgiveness of every one of our sins. He makes us clean and perfect. Something we can never be otherwise no matter how hard we work or how many good things we plan to do for him. I pray that you know this love that he offers to each one of us. And that you can celebrate this Easter season remembering just how much he has done for us. How humbling to think that the Lord and Creator of all cares so deeply for me and you.

I Refuse

God has been gently tugging at Ryan and I's hearts over the last months. Our hearts ache for the babies with no one on this earth to love them as their own. The babies stuck in orphanages - abandoned, alone. Rows of cribs. No mommy or daddy to hold them just to cuddle and sing to them. No wrestling with daddies for little boys or reading books and putting pretties in hair for mommies and little girls. No cookies or treats snuck by daddy. Or kisses and snuggles from mommy.


So we are going to do something about it. We long to hold one of those children and love them as our very own gift from God. We are currently working on adopting a child from Russia. There are days when I'm tempted to feel that this is completely crazy. And I suppose to some people it is. The thought of loving a child you don't have to. Traveling all the way across the world several times to add a child to your family. Doing it not because it's the only way we can grow our family, but because we feel that's how the Lord is leading us. We could try the whole pregnancy thing again - chances of what happened with Addyson and Braden's preemie situation are just that - small chances and not likely. But even that would be a step of faith. Instead we're seeing a need for the millions of orphans that exist around the world aching for a home of their own. Did you know there are over 800,000 orphans in Russia alone!!! How the Father's arms must ache for them. So we're stepping out with crazy love praying that God blesses our journey to a child and that he allows us to join Him in loving one of His perfectly created children.


There were days, early on especially, when I thought it was easier to ignore the things he was laying on our hearts. I mean it's beautiful here and we don't have orphanages nextdoor. It's pretty easy to pretend that there are not babies without familes and that the tragedies in Japan and all the other horrible things happening in this world just don't exist. Our life is so easy to take for granted. But this song played on the radio once and grabbed me. The lyrics totally spoke to our situation. It's called I Refuse by Josh Wilson. (Make sure to go hit pause on the music playing on the left side of your screen before you listen to this.)




So, please pray with us as we continue on this journey! We'll post updates as we go along so you can know better how to pray for us. We mailed our application off today to the adoption agency we have chosen. This makes it all seem very real; we are excited but also know there are a lot of details that God needs to put together before any of this will actually happen. One step of many, many more to come!!

Swing

Remember how we promised a swingset for these two's birthday?

Here it is before:

During (a huge thanks to Ryan's entire family for helping!!!):

And after!!!

There were SO many pieces to this thing and we picked some really windy days to put it together but despite the difficulties we managed to work together and end up with a fun project!!

Since we can't swing all the time, here are some other things the kiddo's have been doing:

Playing in the wheat field:

Going for stroller rides: 

 And having slumber parties: