Happy 4 Months Charlie J*ace!!

Charlie is 4 months old today! I am totally loving this age! He is such a content baby & smiles ALL the time! He only fusses when he's hungry or has a dirty diaper. He loves to watch his brothers & sisters & there is no lack of arms to hold him. I have major mommy pride when they are talking to him or entertaining him.  He still prefers his mommy though :) He is starting to figure out his hands & is starting to play with toys. He's not rolling yet but I'm pretty sure it's because he's just so content. We go to the doctor tomorrow so we'll know for sure what he weighs then but if my scale is correct, he's now 14 1/2 pounds!! He can suck down a 6 oz bottle in a few minutes & I have a feeling we'll be increasing that to 7-8 oz soon. Here are a few pictures from the last 2 days & I am hoping to have professional pictures done with all the kids soon!

Tasty Tuesday!!

It's back!!!! Sorry for the lack of posting. I don't know if it will get any better while the kids are out of school but I will keep trying to post here & there. I love to keep this blog as a way to document what's going on in our lives but I've had no time to even sit by the computer! So here's a great summer recipe for the grill! I'm loving this one & we've made it several times in the last month already! Enjoy!

Open-Faced Grilled Italian Sausage Sandwiches

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1/2 cup EVOO
2 large red bell peppers, seeded & cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large red onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound Italian sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 slices Italian bread
1 package salad greens

1. Whisk vinegar, garlic, and mustard together in large bowl, and season with salt & pepper. Whisk in oil. In another bowl, toss peppers and onion with 2 tablespoons dressing and season with salt & pepper. Thread peppers, onion, and sausage onto skewers.

2. Grill over medium heat, turning as needed until sausage is well browned, about 9 minutes. Add bread slices to grill and cook until grill marked, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Remove bread & skewers from grill.

3. Drizzle each bread slice with 1/2 teaspoon dressing. Toss greens with remaining dressing in bowl and season with salt & pepper. Place 2 slices bread on each of the plates. Mound salad over and around bread. Place one skewer on each plate. Serve.

We are trying this meal with turkey sausage tonight to make this just a little more calorie friendly. We've also grilled the sausages separately & put the dressing & peppers/onions on a brat bun. This is a pretty versatile meal & you can mix it up however you like. We also dipped the bread in the dressing before we grilled it & it was awesome! So go get some great summer produce & try this meal!

Every year when this time of year comes around with warm weather & fireworks, I have a hard time not remembering back to 5 years ago watching fireworks out of a hospital window in Iowa City. Today, July 5, was the day that I held my son, Dawson, in my arms for the last time while he was alive. We knew the odds going into surgery were very risky but he couldn't survive without it. Handing him over to the doctors & nurses was excruciating. At the least, we were looking at 2 weeks without holding him but we weren't prepared to never have him in our arms again. I can remember almost every small detail of that day. I remember the waiting room, the smell of Avagard hand sanitizer, what we ate for lunch, and sitting in a conference room across from the doctors as they told us our son had a slim chance of pulling through the surgery. His heart had gone into cardiac arrest and he was without oxygen for a very long time. His 1 lung had sustained irreversible damage. Our walk of faith over the next 5 days took us to places that I never thought we could endure. But just as God is faithful, He sustained on us peace to make the decisions that we needed and for us to make those decision together as a married couple. God used our son Dawson to teach us so many things but I know that the main one is that we can trust God with our lives. We can trust Him when He calls us to do things that we never thought possible. I know He was priming our hearts to be open to the call to adopt but also to be a testimony of His grace. I can't imagine all we might have missed out on if He hadn't been getting us ready. So even as I sit here, almost 5 years to the minute of one of the most devastating moments of our lives, I know God is good. He has shown His goodness to us & no matter the road we walk from here, we will always lean on His past faithfulness to us.

Neglected Blog

Neglecting the blog. I guess that's what happens during the summer in Iowa. No time to blog, No time to return emails. Just trying to enjoy the nice weather while it's here. The weather hasn't seemed very summer like until this past week so we've been living it up! The kids have too. Never knew that they could sleep in until 9 am. Ahh, summer! We love you! Off to the cabin for the 4th og July weekend!

PS- I do have a post in the works about Dawson but will be posting it in the near future.

5 Years

I will post more later on remembering this day but Dawson would be 5 years old tomorrow, June 25. I hate that I will be out of town tomorrow but we know that we can remember him anywhere we are!

Oh how I miss you baby boy and wish that I could just hold you again for just a moment!

3 Months

Today, Charlie is 3 months old! Just seems crazy to me!! He is growing so much and so fast that I wish I could freeze or slow time down just a bit! He is smiling all the time and loves to coo at anyone that will listen! He now weighs 11 lbs 2 oz and is 23 inches long! That is almost 5 lbs over birth weight and almost 5 inches! He is still a peanut but I guess when you start that small, it just takes longer. Charlie is sleeping like a champ! Usually 8-10 hours a night! I didn't know babies could even do that! He loves going on walks in his stroller and loves the outdoors. We just love him so much & I can't imagine our lives without him. Happy 3 months Charlie!!

Well Said

I'll be posting a link to a blog post that we all need to hear. It might be uncomfortable to hear but sometimes the truth hurts. The title itself says it all. Is the church ready for the abortion law to change?? How many of us are pro-life?? But how many of us would step up to welcome those "un-wanted" children into our homes? How many of us have said there is no way we could adopt or I don't feel called?? One of the major arguments of the pro-choice movements is the issue of the foster care system already being so full. They ask who will take care of these children when the mother chooses life and then is not able to care for these children down the road.

Brian & I have talked quite often since Charlie's arrival of whether this is it for children or not. Most of the time we say "5 is good". The chaos can be overwhelming sometimes. But we will not say never. We have no way of knowing if God will call us to open our homes again. We also know that He might not but we will always advocate for these children. I can't imagine Charlie not being here. He is our son & my heart could almost explode with the love I have for him & all our children. Charlie's birthmom chose life and now he will hopefully know the love and salvation that God has for him because we listened to God's call. So please go read this post & be ready to accept the reality that this issue is causing.

Is the church ready for the abortion law to change?