Flat Reed: Is All This For Me?

We finally got word that Reed's dossier has been sent to Taiwan. It should arrive within two or three days, and then the district will log us in probably two days after that. At least that is what I understood from the the letter that we received. The English is not wonderful!

We also got the address to send Reed his first care package today. We were thrilled, and quickly packed it and went to ship it. The cool thing is that I can track the package's progress.




Tonight we went to supper with a couple of friends who have recently committed to serve the Lord as missionaries in Ireland. They have to raise their entire support and at this point, have just begun working to raise it. They are thrilled with the prospect of this opportunity and they know that this is what God has called them to do. It's so exciting to see God work through them and use them in such an incredible way.

Please continue to pray for a speedy court process, and we will get to bring Reed home soon!

Flat Reed: Happy 2nd Month

Can you believe that our little boy is now 2 months old? Even though he is not here yet, it is important that we celebrate his birthday.



This morning, I went running at 5:00 with our friend Jeff. I think that it must have worn me out, because when I came home I fell asleep. Flat Reed and Mommy must have thought it was cute to take a picture of me all snuggled up with my favorite blanket.



Just an oddity. Tonight I placed my glass of tea on the end table near Abbey. I looked at it a few minutes later and only the ice was left. I thought Abbey had finished it off for me, that's not really unusual. However, when Abbey looked over, the table (which has a lip on it) was FULL of tea. Apparently my glass cracked somehow. We heard a pop, but we didn't know where it came from.

Now, for a birthday prayer.


Father in Heaven,

Watch over my little boy. Be with him and help him to know that hundreds of people are praying for his union with us. Help him to feel the love that his mom and dad have for him, which is more than we ever realized was possible. God, keep him safe as he goes throughout his daily routine. Give him sweet sleep and days full of laughter. Help him to be a joy to those around him that he is to us. Father, we pray for his foster parents that they would be able to show our little Reed some of the love which we plan to give him. Be with the Taiwanese government, help them to work quickly and accurately on our papers so that Reed can be home with his family soon. We thank you, honor you, bless you, and praise you for this amazing gift which you have given us. Your grace is amazing and your love is more abundant than we can ever comprehend.

In Your precious son Jesus' name,

Amen

Pre/After

It occurred to me that we never posted pictures of before we saw Reed for the first time and after. We used the "photo booth" on the mac to capture the moment.





Fortunately, the after picture does not capture the "blubbering idiot" look that should have been showing on my face!

Flat Reed: Where Has All the Springtime Gone?

So, today after a really long nap, Flat Reed and I decided to go and survey the damage the cold weather has had on our yard. It's been a really tough couplw of weeks on our landscaping. I really didn't know it was possible for plants that made it through the winter completely untouched to turn brown and ugly in the Spring. Above, you can see that our boxwoods have had a really tough time. The new growth on the boxwoods is completely DEAD.



"Daddy, so these are daylilies? They don't look so lily-like to me?" Like Flat Reed, we are pretty sure our daylilies are going to be nothing more than overgrown monkey grass this year! Although for the past couple of summers I have been able to cut them back after the first bloom and they blossomed again.



Before you read about the holly bushes let me assure you that we know you should not put REAL children in holly bushes!

Flat Reed and I discovered for the first time that even Holly Bushes can be severely effected by the COLD weather.



Over the past few summers, we have had beautiful hostas in our backyard all around our deck and even it has been really hit hard. It has not been hit as hard as the rest of the plants though. I am so glad that we listened to my friend Debbie's father's advice, who said, "Don't plant until after the Spring-frost!"

Guess what? We drove to church in the snow this morning! How crazy is that?

Flat Reed: My First Build-A-Bear

While we were away on our overnight getaway, we went to Build-A-Bear. Some of the people in our adoption suggested getting a toy that you can record your voice on so that it might help baby to recognize a familiar voice. Check out the video of Reed's first Build-A-Bear.



Another suggestion was that we sleep with some of the things that we are sending to Reed in his care package. So, until we get the address of the place where we are sending Reed's stuff to them, we are sleeping with them.

We are sending some clothes and then we are also going to send Reed's new bear. We are also sending him a very soft blanket and elephant that matches his bedding. We have another blanket and elephant just like them that we will keep here in states in case we don't get them back when we bring Reed home.

Flat Reed: Learning to Climb

Abbey and I were out this evening with the Sprinkles for supper and then we went to visit an elderly lady from our former church who fell and broke her arm and leg. We finished up with dessert at Shoney's (which should have been an obvious mistake, but you know sometimes, you just walk right into trouble).

When we came home, Reed was up on top of my dresser. I think he was standing up there to watch the cleaning lady vacuum and make our bed today. I didn't think that we would have to child-proof this soon, but I guess we are going to have to start looking into that pretty soon. We can't have the real Reed climbing up the dressers and spending the day. Then again, we probably would not have been approved to adopt a baby if we would let a real baby spend the day by himself.



On other news, Abbey made it official today. She will be a "work at home" mom next year. We have been through such a process to become parents, it seemed silly to us for her to continue to work, so she will not be going back to teach next year. She told her principal today. Tennessee is different in that you don't sign a yearly contract, so the only way they find out if your not coming back is if you resign.

I think that Abbey is really going to enjoy being a "work at home" mom. It has always been something that we hoped we would be able to do, and we are going to go for it. We'll have to get used from changing from a DINK to a SIWK, but I think God will bless us for our efforts to raise our blessing.

In the meantime, we are finishing up some things we need to get done around the house while we're still DI, like built-ins in the dining room to store toys! (next week), redoing the countertops (at some point, whenever the guy can get here to measure!), and TOMORROW, we are going to spend the night at our favorite local B and B for our 8 year anniversary of our First Date. Flat Reed is going to get to come with us!

Flat Reed: Helping Do The Laundry

Flat Reed got to play in the laundry tonight. It's been a while since we have worked on the laundry so it made a perfect place for Flat Reed to play.



Flat Reed had fun throwing the clothes into the air. He was having fun, but we are going to have to work some kind of system out, because if the two of us can create that much laundry, I can't imagine when we add a third Land!



Peek-A-Boo. Okay, so we know that Flat Reed is an inanimate object, but ALL babies love to play Peek-A-Boo don't they?



After Peek-A-Boo, Flat Reed wanted to try to cover himself in the laundry. He is rather uninterested in American Idol tonight, because he has given up any hope that Sanjaya will ever get voted off. He questions the judgement of the American people, but he knows the saying, "American by naturalization, southern by the grace of God!"



Finally, Flat Reed wanted to jump into the laundry.

Now, some things Abbey told me I forgot to say last night:

1. We didn't know it when we bought the baby bed, but it actually came from Taipei, Taiwan. Isn't that pretty neat?
2. We KNOW that the dust ruffle is wrinkled, we just wanted to see how long it would take Lola to mention it. (In case you're wondering, it was this morning around 6:45 AM - roughly 8 hours after the blog was posted.) Anyone who would like to come to our house to iron it, email - we'll send directions.
3. We love all of our new blog fans, and Flat Reed loves Aunt Bitsy who held him the other day in Daddy's office. (She also cried today when she saw the babybed!)

Flat Reed: A Place To Lay My Head

It's been a long and trying process, but Reed finally has a baby bed. We originally had chosen a bed from Target, however, when we finally found a store that had the bed it was broken. We searched a total of 5 stores and here are our statistics.

60% of the stores had the bed on display.
20% of the stores had the bed in stock (and it was broken).
100% of the stores had clueless associates.
40% of the stores had the bed on display, but had never actually seen it in a box.
0% of the Lands were happy about this.



Flat Reed was really excited to finally see the new bed, which we got at Babies R Us. It was actually quite easy to put together and I believe that it has the style we were looking for. The best thing is that it is white, and the bed from Target was off-white which meant we were going to have to paint all of the other furniture in the room to match it.



Flat Reed was amazed by all of the room and he especially loved the comfortable mattress. He wanted to know if Aunt Ava could come and visit so they could jump on the bed.



My mom used to always sing to us when we woke up in the morning, and I wouldn't be surprised if she sang when we went to bed when we were little, too (but I can't remember that far back!). I believe that we will be doing a lot of singing to our little Reed.

Flat Reed: Praying Reed Home

Prayer is pivotal in the lives of those who follow Christ. Abbey and I believe that wholeheartedly. Prayer has helped us get to the point where we are today in our spiritual, marital, personal, occupational, and parental lives.

Throughout this process we have prayed fervently for God's will to be done. When we chose to adopt from Taiwan, our prayers were able to be more directed. Once the homestudy was completed, Abbey and I began to pray for Reed's birthmom.

Our prayers:
1. Reed's birthmom would have a place to sleep.
2. Reed's birthmom would have a good meal each day.
3. Reed's birthmom would have support and medical care.

Each of these prayers were answered above and beyond what we could have ever imagined. God is so faithful to hear our prayers. Through the background information we received on Reed's birthmom, we know that God had a hand in her life and gave her each of the things we prayed for.

Now, we want you all to join with us. If you are committed to "Praying Reed Home," we'd love for you to comment and let us know. We want to be able to show Reed how many people loved him and prayed for him before we had ever even met him.

Pray that God will grant us a speedy court process, that He will orchestrate our travel plans, that He will watch over Reed while we are not with him, and that He would prepare Reed's heart to accept God's amazing salvation.

Flat Reed: My New Shelves

Some of you may know that we have been looking for a bookcase for Reed's room. We wanted something that would match the look of the other furniture, which meant that it had to be older. We have seen a few modern pieces that we liked, but none of them quite had the look we were going for.

While we were in Memphis, we went to this consignment furniture store. We looked for a few minutes and then ... bam! There it was. It was an older piece of furniture, completely covered in ugly dishes. I searched for the price and finally I found the tag. The price for this treasure find, $35.00. You read it right, 35 buckaroos! We bought it.

Today, Flat Reed helped me wipe it down before we gave it a nice paint job.



Flat Reed got in on a little painting action too. Generally, I would not recommend allowing a 6-week-old use spray paint, but considering Flat Reed isn't a "weal" boy, I thought it would be alright.



Once, we finished painting it, it was time to let it dry. After a couple of hours, we hauled it upstairs to Reed's room to see if it fit. His room has a slanted wall just inside the door. Would you believe that the shelf fit absolutely perfectly right on that wall! It is amazing. And the door still opens and closes all the way!



Notice the quilt at Flat Reed's feet. That was a special surprise we had when we came home from Memphis yesterday. Aunt Mellie made that for her great-nephew Reed. She didn't know it, but the colors are PERFECTLY matched to the colors in Reed's room.

Flat Reed: Jumpin' on the Bed

The IL's bought new mattresses for the rooms at their house. They were afraid that we would not come home if we had to continue to sleep on the old ones. The old ones were just a step above sleeping on a fold-away couch bed. You know how uncomfortable those can be.



Flat Reed came up with a wonderful idea with his Aunt Ava. They both decided that it would be fun to jump on the bed to see how good the mattresses were. They were able to bounce all over the place. They loved this game, and I can hardly imagine how must fun they will have when it's the real Reed and his Aunt Ava bouncing all over the place.



Until the real thing gets home, Flat Reed and Aunt Ava will just have to cut-up together!

Flat Reed: First Easter

"There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed." Matthew 28:5-6



"He is risen from the dead."



Today is Easter and it has been a wonderful day. Flat Reed had a lot of fun. He got to wear his new Easter outfit, and he got a basket that looks like an elephant. It will match his room perfectly!



One of the most exciting things for me to think about when I think of our son, is the most awesome day when he accepts Christ as His personal Savior. What a day it will be for us as parents and what a wonderful day it will be for Reed, for eternity.

Flat Reed: Taking a Day Off

Flat Reed has been so busy lately, that he decided to take a day off. But, be ready to hear about something he did today. You won't believe it. He's definitely acting like my son. He was jumping on the new mattresses at Lola's! He'll also be sharing his Easter pictures with you all.

Flat Reed: Meet the Greats

Flat Reed got to visit Dyersburg, Tennessee today. We had to go to the mission to take some clothes and other items because we needed to clean Reed's closet out. My Great Aunt Betty Jo lives in Dyersburg, so we got to have lunch with her and Uncle Bill. Unfortunately, Reed will not get to know my wonderful grandmothers since they have both passed away. I will definitely tell him about my BeMaw and Mimi. Aunt Betty Jo is Mimi's sister, so she is Reed's Great-Great Aunt. It was great to get to see her, but it made me sad that Reed is going to have to miss knowing his great-grandmothers on my side, since they were both AMAZING!!!



Abbey's Granny also lives in D-burg, so we were able to visit with her for a while. She was doing extremely well today, but we weren't sure if she would understand the "Flat Reed" concept, so we just showed her pictures. Here is the first picture of all four Generations on Abbey's side. She did get really excited with Lola explained that this was her Great-Grandson.

Granny was feeling kind of comical it seemed today, so here are a couple of the outtakes.



She had the biggest smile, and I would say, "Smile Everybody," and she would immediately quit smiling.



I'm not exactly sure what was going on here, but it did seem important didn't it?

Flat Reed: IncogREEDo

Since LandLife has become such a popular site for people to visit, mobs of people have been coming up to Flat Reed everywhere he goes. In the interest of his privacy we have come up with a little disguise. Now, we can go to Target and Chick Fil A without throngs of men and women walking up wanting to get their picture with him.



Although his parents are not very athletic, we do know that God has a sense of humor and it seems that Flat Reed has taken to playing catch. Maybe an uncle or someone can come and help him out. He certainly doesn't need his father trying to tell him to go for a homerun on the football field.



No matter where you are, you always need your paci!


Flat Reed sent his Lola some flowers for her 50th birthday. Since Lola's birthday came so close to Easter, we came to celebrate. Aunt Ava and Uncle Brookie will be coming up tomorrow sometime.



And finally ... our first family portrait. Molly, do you recognize that baby, I mean, other than the head?

Flat Reed: Going to Work With Mommy

Flat Reed got to go to work with Mommy today. It was "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up" day at school, and since Abbey has always wanted to be a Mommy, that's how she went. She even brought the diaper bag that we have had for 2 years!



Flat Reed had to tell me all about how crazy mom's students were when he got home. He said, no wonder she wants to be a work-at-home mom.



Since Flat Reed is not the most flexible infant in the world, the kids enjoyed giving him double-high fives!



Flat Reed was definitely flirting with the girlies. I think that he will be a ladies man. I think Abbey just had him hanging out with the girls to find out if they said anything mean about her.

On another note, Flat Reed got to see his mom in some real action as she foiled a plot by a student who called in a bomb threat. Flat Reed was so proud of her when he came home, but he was EXHAUSTED! Now, he's asleep tucked safely into the diaper bag. He's going to work with me tomorrow, and then we are headed to Memphis to celebrate Lola's 50th birthday!

Flat Reed: Workin' at the Car Wash

Flat Reed and I were supposed to be fixing the leak in the guest bathroom, but after two attempts at Lowe's we gave up. Abbey has a friend whose husband is a plumber, so he is supposed to be coming over at some point to work on it.

I then thought that it would be fun if Flat Reed helped me wash my Jeep.



"Daddy, I'm good at washing the window aren't I?"



I think that Flat Reed really enjoyed being outside in the beautiful weather yesterday. He was helpful. Now Flat Reed has some comments that are strongly supported by his mom and dad:

"What is up with Sanjaya? I mean, is it really possible for him to stay on AI. I bet he can't even make a good "OOHH!" face like I can. I can sing better than him, and I don't even know how to talk. And, come on, he's trying to grow a goattee now? I am trying to be nice, by saying trying. He's like a train wreck. Come on, blog fans, let's vote Sanjaya off!"

Wow! This kid has got to be ours. He fits so perfectly into our family. Like his dad, he knows how to subtly express his opinion.