A Visit from Lola

Lola was having a bad week, so she decided that she should come and see Reed.



Abbey decided to get Lola some flowers to help cheer her up.



Of course, she loved the flowers, but she loved getting to see Reed even more.



Reed has been practicing riding on his bike a lot lately.



The other day, we practiced riding at Mia's house.



Reed likes riding his bike, but he doesn't really get the idea.



I had to go to teach at a conference in Kentucky, so Abbey, Reed, and Lola went to the zoo.



Reed loves the zoo. He loves to see Margarita, Savannah, and Congo—the giraffes.





Reed also loves the carousel.



While they were at the red panda exhibit Reed heard some Asian music. He asked where they music was coming from and Abbey told him that it was from the speakers. Reed was intrigued by the speakers, but not the music. He didn't care for it.




Later when asked what Reed's favorite part of the zoo was, he responded with "Speakers".



Apparently we have a sound guy on our hands.



Does this picture of Reed sort of make you think of Curious George? For some reason, I keep thinking that it looks like Curious George.



Tonight, Reed was hitting Lola with his "carrot bat."



Abbey said to Reed: "Don't hit Lola with the bat."

Reed looked at Lola and said: "You breakable?"

He cracks us up.

It's a Beautiful Day!

I mentioned a few posts ago that Reed loves for me to blow-dry his hair sticking straight up. Every night I think that maybe I can get away with just blow drying it normally, but still every night he asks for me to "bwow dwy his hair fraight up in d air".



And man does his hair stick up! It sticks straight into the air.



For the past couple of days, it has been AMAZINGLY beautiful outside. Just amazing.



Reed and I had a great time the other day walking and riding bikes and then today, he and Abbey had a good time playing outside. Britton, Paitynn, and Tamara came over later and played outside with Reed.



I think that Reed was trying to get bubble to go through the "target".



Reed loves to be outside.



He had lot of fun playing on his swingset.



Right now, the picnic table top is functioning as a chalkboard.



Reed is pretty much happy with that function of the picnic table.



He also has been enjoying playing baseball. The other day, his favorite thing was to throw the ball over the fence into the neighbors yard.



Reed has a favorite new saying or response when you say something to him: "What you had said?"

We're trying to work with Reed using correct grammar, but it is really funny when he says this.



We're blessed.

Land Family Weekend Update!

Uncle Bill came over and apparently neither he nor Reed were ready to this picture. He helped us work in the yard and also clean our messy garage!



Reed and Uncle Bill like to be silly.



Last night we went to Chili's (which we told Reed was called Chili Bells, because he wanted to go to Taco Bell). After Chili's the "HOT" light was on at Krispy Kreme so we went over for some donut dessert. Reed LOVED the KK donuts which is funny because he's always loved dunkin donuts on to eat the tops of them, but he devoured the Krispy Kreme ones.



Today we woke up and headed to church, but of course, Reed was not ready for a photo shoot.



He did sit still for a few minutes for a drink of juice.



This picture was actually taken this evening. This morning Reed had a green and white plaid shirt under the sweater, but he got peach juice on it at lunch.



This week isn't going to be too terribly busy for us, I think. We are going to Kentucky at the end of the week for me to teach at a conference, but thankfully, Abbey and Reed are getting to go with me.



Reed and I took a self-portrait tonight. I had to take the time to teach Reed about the different angles at which you can take pictures. For instance, when you have more than one chin as I do, you should not take a picture like the one above. The camera needs to be at or above face level.



Reed has been extremely sweet lately. He's started telling me and Abbey that we are the best, which of course, we love.



Every night when we get out of the tub, I blow dry Reed's hair. He loves it when I make it stick straight up. Tonight it was great!



And then it was time to go to bed, and yes, he is wearing Christmas PJs, but only until he gets to bed. Reed prefers to sleep in undies only!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane ...

No, it's SUPER REED!



Okay, so the next few photos are going to be a little blurry because Super Reed is faster than a speeding bullet.



Our quite imaginative little boy thought that his news flyer cape worked well.



In case you are wondering, yes he does move this fast ALL DAY LONG! Sometimes he sleeps.



Click on the picture above to see why there is a rut in our living room. He runs this circle 400 times a day!



Reed says he is a "Super Hero!"

Our Family: What's Next (or What We Know is Not Next)

Growing our family has never gone exactly as we thought it would. Many of you have followed our journey through miscarriages, testing, prayer, and finally the adoption of our son, Reed. While it was no fun going through all the pain, unknowns, and what-ifs, we know with all certainty that God blessed us beyond measure with our precious baby boy. Without the journey we have had, Reed would not be with us, and I(Abbey) cannot even imagine life without our gift of Reed. He brings us joy and makes us laugh, just to name a few ways he's blessed us.

Then, you followed along with us as we announced we would adopt again through our same agency, JOH. Then, you read along again(and offered your encouragement) as we made the change to Marshall Islands due to some unforeseen circumstances with our program in Taiwan.

Being honest, the past few weeks have been extremely difficult for me. I'm not asking for sympathy; I just want to be honest. We love the family we have, and we also know God has more planned for our family. We struggle with being content where we are and dying to know what the future holds for us. While we know we will grow our family through adoption, we now know it will not be with a child from the Republic of Marshall Islands.

A lot has been going on in our family behind the scenes of this blog, and we're not ready to share it all yet. We aren't even sure where things are going, only God does. What I do know is we've been focusing on a direction with the mindset of "If this doesn't work out, we have the option of RMI adoption." We are letting go of that "second option". Please understand we are not saying anything negative about adopting from the Marshall Islands; it is just abundantly clear to us (and several of those praying for us) that the RMI adoption is not what we are called to at this time.

Where do we go from here? We are trusting God to guide us. Like I mentioned, we are still waiting to see how things go with a possibility that was shared with us. Until we know for sure that is going to happen, we are going to continue to pray and work very hard at being patient. (We hope it happens fast :))

Are we ready to grow our family? Absolutely! Is it hard to not know exactly how that will happen? No doubt. Do I have lots of questions and no answers? For sure. Here's what I know is not next: an adoption from the Marshall Islands.

We covet your prayers-prayers for peace, strength, patience, and God's guidance as we wait to see how He grows our family. Will you also pray for those who desire to grow their families and are waiting to see how it will happen (biologically or through adoption)? While we go through this new adventure, we are at least sure of how our family will grow, while some are still waiting to see what their next step will be.

Thanks for joining us on our adventure; we'll be sure to update you as we can!

The following passage is one our interim pastor, Bruce Raley, read last night at church. I'm working on the "joy" part, knowing God has great things in store for our family.

James 1:2-5
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Crazy Busy-ness!

For all of those out there who think we have completely fallen off the blogging bandwagon, I apologize. We've been working for the best consignment sale, Encores and More North. We help tag things and that has taken up a lot of our time and space in our house! But, we are going to be able to get Reed some great clothes!



The other day, Abbey and Reed met Mrs. Stacy, Cooper, and Hudson at a local church to play.



The church has an incredible indoor playground that is open to the public during the week. It's a great place to take the kids on freezing days.



Coop and Reed played really hard!



Another day, Abbey took Reed for a special treat. "cunkin' donuts."



Reed loves Dunkin' Donuts, but it is not as good as our favorite little hometown donut shop.



To be completely honest, Reed has no idea what the donuts taste like, he just eats the chocolate and sprinkles off.



Yesterday, after Lizzie's birthday party, we went to Chickfila, where Reed and Britton got to spend even more time together. They would be completely inseparable if we would let them.

What You Say Mama?

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but I promise we have an excuse. We are in the midst of consignment central! Insanity has set in! We are working on tagging stuff for people who don't want to tag it themselves. We get credit to shop, so that means that we get to buy Reed's clothes for really cheap. You know we love Dave Ramsey.



The other excuse is that I was out of town this weekend, so Abbey and Reed went Memphis to Pop and Lola's.



Reed had a good time playing with Max, Mollie, and Belle!

And, Pop and Lola!



Pop took Reed for a ride on the carousel at the mall. Reed loves to ride a carousel.



Reed also got to go see his only living great-grandparent, Mimi. She is Pop's Mom. Unfortunately her health has declined a lot over the past several years. She thinks Reed's eyes are beautiful. We agree.



Reed has been enjoying a few days of putting together puzzles and seeing his buddy Britton at Mother's Day Out.



I don't know if we've ever mentioned that Reed HATES PJs! He likes to sleep in his undies! I think it bothers his Mama sometimes, but I don't care. He's got plenty of cover on his bed!

Well, it is late and I have to get up early in the morning to go to work, but I wanted to satisfy our readers!