6 Months Home!!!

Wow, I can't believe it will be 6 months tomorrow that Ade has been home. It has been a wild ride. I'm so glad we got through those first couple of months of him not taking a nap and all that business! There were a few times I doubted myself that we did the right thing! I knew in my heart it was the right thing, but my head was telling me something different. Because it was hard with 4 kids and I didn't have the time used to have with just 3. All very selfish reasons! But thankfully the thoughts passes quickly!

Ade is doing really well. In the last month or so we have noticed a few setbacks. He started being super clingy again and was having a hard time going to bed at night. So we just had to give him double the attention and assure him that we were here for him FOREVER! It always makes me a little sad because I wonder if he really KNOWS that we are his mom and dad. The longest he has been with someone was his birth mother and that was for 9 months. So it makes me wonder. Even though he calls us Mom and Dada and he loves us a lot!

He has grown so much taller since he has been home. And he feels really heavy right now, like dead weight. He is solid as a rock! He has gotten lots of new teeth. He has master the skill of running. And I think I have mentioned before that he is in to EVERYTHING!!! I mean seriously, it is exhausting at times! He is talking up a storm and he tries to sing songs with me. He loves music. The boy LOVES basketball and he loves being outside. He is not happy when it is time to come inside!

Well, that's about all I've got right now, but Happy 6 Months Home to all in our travel group!

Amazing

Sometimes when I just sit and think about our adoption and our story, I am amazed! I think it is amazing how God laid this on our hearts and the way Joe and I responded at different times. I think it is amazing that we got so excited every time we got ANY little bit of information on him and how much we loved him. I think it is amazing that his birth mother made the decision to want more for her child and think it is even more amazing how God intertwined our families together! I think it is amazing that every night when I pray with Ade we pray for his Papa Abera and his birth family. I think it is amazing that God took us ALL the way to Ethiopia to get our son. I think it is amazing that I have such a deep LOVE for a woman I have never met, the woman whom I share a son. I think it is amazing that I have carried 3 children on my own and 1 adopted child and I love them all the same and would give my life for ANY of them! I think it is amazing that my children want to adopt when they get older. And I think that it is amazing that God trusted me with these 4 treasures! Amazing Love, how can it be?

Father/Daughter Dance 2011

Last night was the Father/Daughter dance! Joe took Ella and Maya! It was Maya's first year. She was so excited. I did their hair up all fancy and since it was a special occasion I put a bit of make up on them! They felt like queens!!! It was so cute. I love that our community does this every year. It is such a special time for Joe and the girls!!! They came home happy and said they had a great time.

Max and I had a date to a basketball game and Target. We had a lot of fun. It was great hanging out with just him. He really soaks one on one time up! We watched a really good game. And Ade stayed with my mom and they had a great time as well.

Tonight we are going to the KU/MU game. We are so pumped. I really kind of just want to crawl up and get in my bed but you know, I'll venture out!:) Ella LOVES KU, Grammy and Grandpa both graduated from there so it is really fun for her.

I'm going to attach some pics of last night. My girls looked beautiful!

My Boy Loves Basketball!!!

Oh my goodness, Ade Joseph loves him some basketball. We have had some great weather here this week and so we have been outside ALL week. It makes such a difference with the kids. They can run off their energy! Anyway, Ade LOVES being outside and LOVES basketball, he cries when he can't go out. I got some great pics of him yesterday playing basketball outside. He actually has some good form! I am super impressed with his skills! He is so much fun. I love watching his personality come out more and more!

On another note, I really feel like the Lord is doing something in my heart. For some time now I have felt like I'm not where I should be as far as my quiet time and things with God. I have my quiet time every day nearly, but I have just lost control in some areas. For instance, I used to watch what I said all the time. Lately it feels like all I can do is complain about myself. And God is getting me back on track! I am really striving to be more like him and be in a place He wants me to be! As a mom, wife, friend basically everything! Just pray for me!

I hope you all have a great weekend, we have a fun weekend ahead! Father/Daughter dance tonight, KU/MU game tomorrow! The Freudenthal's are pumped!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So my awesome husband wrote me the most kind card today! It truly was music to a wife and mom's ears! He is the best. He also got me a really cute necklace. He did good! I on the other hand was a LOSER! I hadn't gotten him anything so I took him out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse!!! We had tons of fun! And I got him a card. He truly is a treasure!

Ade's first Valentine's Day just came and went! He didn't seem too impressed! But it was good having him here!

A MAJOR Battle of the Wills!!!

Oh my goodness, did we ever have a battle of the wills on Friday!!! Ade, who has know how to say please since the week he got home WOULD NOT say please. I mean stubbornly would not say it! I would tell him a million times to say and he would just look down and say "uh-uh"!!! So I disciplined him and he still WOULD NOT say it! I bribed him with a bottle and he would say he wanted it but would not say please! I had started this and I needed to finish it. So after about an hour Joe and the kids left to go to Chili's and Ade stayed in his bed and I stayed home with him. Finally 2 HOURS later, the little turd decided to finally say please. It was a real irritated swipe of the belly please! Then he wanted his bottle and wouldn't say please so I wouldn't let him have it and finally I got a real enthusiastic please and he has said please every since!!! That little turkey has a major strong will!!! All I have to say it Mom 1 Ade 0!!!! I was VICTORIOUS!!!

The "Golden Birthday"!!!

Soooo 10 years ago today I became a Momma for the first time! I gave birth to a chubby, spunky, gorgeous, black haired blue eyed baby girl! I mean her hair was down the back!!! She had soooo much. She may have been the cutest newborn I have ever seen! She was awesome!!! My labor, not so much!

So today is her golden birthday, she is 10 on February 10th! I surprised her when I picked she and her friends up for school and took them for a girls day and we got mani/pedis!!! And then got some food at Chili's! She loved it and was thrilled. We had a great day together! Her friends are a blast! I must not leave out the part where I met yet ANOTHER NFL player while getting the pedi's! And we had a great discussion about hair! Ella was just rolling her eyes like, not again!!! I think he plays for the Cowboys and his last name is Rucker! Super nice handsome young man!

We came home tonight and had a family party and we surprised her yet again! She got some great gifts! She is a very blessed girl indeed.

Some of my favorite things about Ella are.......

-She tells me EVERYTHING!
-She is funny.
-She is very social.
-She is so smart I can't even keep up with her!
-She has a HEART for orphans!
-She loves Jesus.
-She is such an airhead at times.
-She is very free spirited(this can also drive me NUTS!)
-She has the most gorgeous hair!
-She loves her siblings.
-She loves Jesus.
-She loves to sing.
-She is a great basketball player.
-She is pretty low maintenance when it comes to clothes and stuff.
-She loves her family!


And a special shout out to her Aunt Denise, who is so stinking creative and an awesome Aunt, she did the coolest thing for her. She wrapped up 10 gifts to give her starting 10 days before her birthday, then everything she unwrapped was 10 of something! Soo cool. Then she gave her a $10 gift card on the last day and a pinata!!!! I mean really, how awesome is that! We love and appreciate you Aunt Denise!
Those are just a few. Happy Birthday Ella Rain. I love you more than you'll ever know!!!

Funny Ade

Just a couple of funny little things about Ade so I don't forget them.

-He loves Maya's big fashion glasses, he wears them around and it is so cute.
-He LOVES basketball and can do a mean defensive shuffle.
-His new camera face is to crinkle up his nose! So stinkin' cute!
-He gets his coat and comes to me and says bye bye!
-When he sees Max he instantly starts punching, so cute to see them be boys together!

That's about all for now!

Let's Talk About Babysitters

So I think I got spoiled rotten with our first babysitter. When Max and Ella were little we stumbled upon the best babysitter ever!!! She took excellent care of my kids, bathed them, knew how to put them to bed and my house was ALWAYS clean when I got home! She was 15 when she started watching my kids. Now she is 21 and believe it or not, babysitting isn't real high on her priority list!:) Which I can't blame her. I was a babysitter as well to a family that I was like a second Mom to them. But then I grew up and didn't have the time I used to! But I cherish those days with those boys!

I mean, I don't think you get it. Gigi is like a mini me!!! I mean she's fantastic!:) She knows how I discipline, she's not afraid to send them to their rooms or get on them. She keeps everything nice and tidy like I do and most importantly, they ALWAYS look cute when she babysits and their hair is always done! She even takes them places, has them stay all night and I mean the girl rocks!!! She watches them if Joe and I want to go on a date overnight. She also comes and helps me every year with the Christmas decorations if I need it and she always helps me wrap Christmas presents and we have so much fun and get so delirious wrapping for hours upon hours!!! She is also always available when Joe goes out of town to stay all night with me and that makes my life a lot easier!!!We totally trust her!

So since she's gotten older and has a job and goes to college, we don't get to have Gigi all that often. So when she does come it is like a sigh of relief, Joe and I don't have to worry about a thing. So we have been on the hunt for some new sitters. Come on 3 more years and Ella will be doing it!:) Anyway, there are a couple of girls that live next door and across the street whom are also so busy and they do a great job, I just think that 4 kids is a bit overwhelming for them. So I try to only have 1-3 of the kids when they come. Because Max is a lot and has a lot of energy and then having a toddler on top of that. I mean, it can be tough. We have had a sibling group that babysits for us but every time I've called them lately they have declined! I think they think my kids are brats and they don't want to do it!:( We also have another girl that went away to college and whenever she can come the kids are also very excited, she too does an awesome job and we feel like she can handle the 4!!!

I am just rambling about this, but it has been on mind a lot lately. I don't think anyone wants to watch 4 kids. I think it scares them and they think it is too much! My own family has commented on how it is a lot of work. So if you know anyone out there who you think we could trust and could handle it, please let me know!

Do you think I could convince Gigi to stop growing up so she can watch the kids for a good 3 more years on demand?:) For some reason, I don't think she would go for that one!!! She really has been such a blessing to us and we have been blessed to have her this long! We love you Gigi!!!