Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Has it really been almost three weeks since you've seen me here? Wow! At least I had a good excuse! We are slowly finding our footing and figuring out what our new normal is.

Monday was a special day as it was Haven's half-birthday. We celebrate those in this family! It required a trip to Chick-fil-A, a stop at the dollar store to spend her money and then we went to see all the goings on just a few minutes from our house where Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has taken over. Marisa invited us to park in their driveway and then we just had a short walk to the house site. We had only been there for a few minutes when we were spotted by Marisa's husband, Brian. Brian has been helping out with the house and was filling us in on some info. He asked us if we wanted to get into the VIP seating area. Um, yes! Not only was it shady, they had refreshments, chairs and a wonderful view of the action. It was amazing to see how quickly they are getting things accomplished and we were only there for a short time.

The T family's new house in progress

Haven posing with the signs that are all over our area

My boys enjoying the shade of the VIP area

Haven was a big fan of the free refreshments!

See, I really was there!

This was such a fun way to spend the afternoon and we are so excited for this family!

And a new chapter begins...

...follow along with us at our adoption blog. A new story is about to unfold.

One more picture...

...and away we go!

I don't know where she gets it

At the dinner table the other night we were joking around with Haven asking her what we should do with her, which is something we frequently talk about. The standard answer that she gives is, "Throw me in the desert!" We don't know where this came from but it's our little joke. But then I asked her why we should keep her and her answer still has me laughing. Without missing a beat she replied, "Because I'm beautiful, I'm white and I'm just the right size!"

Where does she get this stuff?!!

The last of its kind

We had a great weekend together. A mix of productive and fun, great on any weekend, but especially good on our last weekend just the three of us. There was lots of errands, some packing, "organizing out" as Haven likes to say and plenty of tickles and laughs. We took a family bike ride yesterday, ate pizza for lunch and had a movie night, complete with stove-top popped popcorn and a sleepover. Remarkably, we all got a good night's sleep despite the cramped quarters.

Today we attended church, ran more errands and then spent the afternoon at the pool. It was darn near perfect out- 83 degrees with a good breeze. Cale grilled us our dinner and Haven played outside. We hung up pictures in Mathios' room and got it just about ready for the boy. (One small mar to our lovely weekend was my leg impalement by Cale's drill bit. It's causing a great deal of pain and I'm certain that there is some sort of raging infection already taking up residence!) We tucked in a very tired girl and then Cale and I sat out by the fire pit and he even made me a s'more.

A near perfect weekend if you ask me. It might have been the last of its kind, but it was one to remember. Not because of anything remarkable, but the amazing normalness of it wrapped up in the startling reality of what's about to happen in our family. All our preparing and planning and hoping about to be realized.

Haven around town

Haven has been one busy girl lately. Here's her life the last few weeks, in pictures...

Spending time with cousins
Building a bear for her brother

Washing dishes, which is hands down her new favorite thing to do! (Bad picture- sorry!)

Splashing in the fountains at The Greene

Watering the plants and getting wet at Wegerzyn Gardens

Watching the loud airplanes at the Air Force Tatoo

Waiting with Papa for it to get dark for the "ka-booms"!

Boating with family

Tubing

And even driving the boat! Straight is not in her vocabulary!

Haven also attended her first Vacation Bible School and she loved going everyday. We've taken lots of bike rides, discovered the deliciousness of Sonic's apple juice slushes and stayed up way too late. It's been a great summer thus far and we're enjoying these long days together!

Mango chutney

This recipe is one of the first that I made as a newlywed and seven years later we are still enjoying it. It's equally delicious on grilled chicken or pork and is always a crowd pleaser.

Mango Chutney
1 ripe mango, diced
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
3 Tbs cider vinegar (or more if you want more sauce)
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt

In medium saucepan, combine half of the mango and remaining ingredients. Boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 5 minutes. Right before serving add remaining mango, stir and serve over grilled meat.

We enjoyed this last night over some pork chops that had been lightly oiled and seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper. Delicious!

Fast Forward

It's amazing to me how one simple phone call immediately thrust our life into fast forward. We couldn't be more thrilled about it, but it has certainly made our lives a whole lot busier. We leave the country in 13 days and there is much to do before we leave.

How exactly does one prepare to suddenly be a family of four by adding a 14 month old to the mix? We don't know either! But we're trying and are busy packing, planning, booking flights, finishing a bedroom, washing little boy clothes, doing special things with Haven, trying out double strollers, rearranging car seats and pulling the highchair up from the basement.

All these mundane, but fun tasks are keeping us occupied. They are tangible and easily crossed off our master to-do list. But it's all the other stuff that keeps my mind in constant motion. Have we explained all of this process enough to Haven? Can we really handle all the challenges that await us as we bring home this child? Will I know what to say the first time I get a rude comment at the store about our multi-racial family? Do I even know how to be a mom to a boy? What can a 14 month old do and not do (my memory is shaky even though I've had one before!)? What is life really going to be like? Are we up for it?

Some of my questions have answers, some don't. At least not yet. But I know that the grace that has enabled us to come this far isn't about to run out. There's more ahead; enough to cover every need, sustain us in the trials and celebrate every joy. So today I'll happily cross off a few more tasks on my list and leave my questions behind. I'll savor these last few weeks we have, just the three of us and smile every time I think about what life will be like 3 weeks from now when we will FINALLY be a family of four.