When you visit our house . . .

When you visit our house, you may find dirty dishes in the sink

When you visit our house, you may find laundry piled on the floor.

When you visit our house, you may notice the trim that still hasn't been painted, or the paint that needs touching up.

When you visit our house, you may find that dinner is being served from a can, or a box, or a bag.

When you visit our house, you might see a dead shrub in the yard where we can't get anything to grow, or a flower bed overrun with weeds.

When you visit our house, you might notice the couch with cat claw marks, or the stained carpet.

It seems there's never enough time, money, or energy to do all that we want to do, or all that we should do.  There is always a project to finish, or another to start.  And, Lord knows I am not the world's greatest housekeeper.  There's never enough space to put things away.  Sometimes it feels like we're living on top of each other in our little house, which some days feels like it's falling apart.


BUT,


When you visit our house, you may find two brothers jumping up and down just to make each other laugh.

When you visit our house, you may find Mama reading the boys a story, or Daddy playing with them in the backyard.

When you visit our house, you'll find pictures of our family and friends on the fridge, including another little boy we can't wait to bring home.

When you visit our house, you'll find a Mama and Daddy who love each other and are best friends (and are probably sitting on the couch together watching "Wipeout" on TV.)

When you visit our house, there's a good chance you'll find something sweet, homemade, and fresh-baked in the kitchen.

When you visit our house, you're welcome to share anything we have.

When you visit our house, we're glad you're here.

Almost . . Wordless Wednesday {That's How I Roll . . . }

"Shhhhh . . . . don't tell Papaw Tom I'm riding a GREEN tractor!"

:-)

Sick day

I woke up this morning feeling like poo.  I've got an allergy/sinus/summer cold combo going on and it just stinks.  I feel like my head is the size of a hot air balloon and weighs about 3 tons with lots and lots of sinus pressure.  Blah!

Thank goodness it's the weekend so Nathan was home to take care of the boys.  I'd have been truly miserable if I were home alone taking care of the boys while feeling like this.  Daddy hung out with the boys all day; fed them and kept them entertained while I rested.  That was so great - I needed the sleep!  When I did come out to spend some time on the couch, I got lots and lots of hugs, kisses, and cuddles from Noah so being sick isn't all that bad!  Daddy also taught Noah a new phrase.  All day he walked around saying, "Ma, sick."  "Ma, sick."  Gotta love that kid!

Wordless Wednesday {Life's a Beach, with Our Friend Sylas}

Family Reunion / A Grandma's Legacy

This weekend we traveled to Ohio to attend and celebrate a reunion of my mom's family.  Most of my mother's family stayed settled in Ohio near where she grew up, but there are pieces of the family scattered across the country - in Florida, Michigan, California, and Arizona.  We seldom all manage to get together at one time, but this weekend we got pretty close.  There were a precious few missing, but overall it was an amazing turnout and we so enjoyed getting to see everyone.  We're very lucky to be able to share our lives with each other and see our family continue to grow and grow and grow.  We are linked by one very special lady, my grandmother Elvera.

This is Elvera.

She has SIX daughters

FIVE sons-in-law

SIXTEEN grandchildren (11 pictured here)

THIRTY great-grandchildren (25 pictured here)

. . . and still counting!

(Our newest addition Benjamin will be #31!)

What an amazing legacy for one woman to have.  She is the 

heart of our family, 

the matriarch, 

the common sense, 

the faith, 

and the card shark, 

with zero-tolerance for bullshit.  

She makes the best pies (coconut creme is my favorite,) her door is always open, and when you come to visit she always has a hug, an "I love you," and she's genuinely happy to see you.  She considers herself very blessed.

And so do we, 

for having her in our lives.

Drumroll please . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . his name is

Benjamin Jacob Withers!!!

And baby makes FIVE!?!?!?!?!

Yep, we're doing it again.  The Withers are bringing home another baby.  I know some of our family and friends know about this, but others don't, so let me get you caught up!

Back in January, just a few days after we brought Eli home from the hospital after his birth, our adoption social worker came to visit us.  She brought with her some crazy and shocking news.  Noah's birthmother in South Korea gave birth to another baby boy on December 27, 2009. (That's 3 days before I had Eli, if you're keeping score!)  Their birthmother asked if the boys could be raised together, so the adoption agency came to us and asked if we would like to adopt again.  I won't repeat the expletives that first came out of our mouths, but needless to say we were so surprised at this news!  We took some time, talked it over, said more than a few prayers, punched some numbers on the calculator, cried, laughed, and then finally decided.  This baby simply had to come home.  We can't imagine letting Noah grow up without his family, whether it's biological or adoptive.  We feel so strongly that this little boy is meant to come home to us and complete our family.  He is the missing link.  He will share his biology and heritage with Noah, and he will be a virtual twin to Eli.  (Can you imagine the pranks they will play on their teachers and friends when they get older????)  Nathan and I love the Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch" and one of it's themes says, "Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten."  That pretty much sums it up!

This wasn't an easy decision to make, but we know it's the right one.  We know there will be sacrifices and things we will have to do without and LOTS and LOTS of diapers to change.  But in the end the money doesn't really matter.  What matters is what is best for our family.

So, fast forward to TODAY.  After waiting weeks and weeks and weeks for more news to come about Baby #3, we finally got The Call today.  The paperwork is here, and most important - the pictures.  Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to introduce you to Withers Boy #3 (name to be determined in the next few days as soon as Mom and Dad can agree!)

Newborn pics

These are more recent, but we're not certain when they were taken.

Isn't he adorable????

Are we crazy?  Perhaps . . . . but we are crazy happy.

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 7 {Korea Families Picnic}

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 6 {At the Zoo with Our Buddy Sylas}

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 5 {Flowers for the Fourth}

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 4 {Hello, Turtle!}

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 3 {Noah loves the park!}

Eli's Six Month Stats

Can you believe Eli turned six months old yesterday?!?!?!  I took him in for his check up today; he did great.  He's meeting or exceeding all his goals, especially in mobility - he can already scoot along the floor and will be crawling SOON.  We started solid foods about 2 weeks ago and I'm excited to introduce him to more "real people" food.  Here are his official numbers:

Weight = 16 lbs 8 oz  (25th-50th percentile)

Height = 27 inches (90th percentile)

He's still one long and lean little man!

A Week of Wordless Wednesdays - Pt 2 {Eli's First Time Eating Cereal}

I've been so busy and gotten behind in my blogging, so I thought I'd catch up by posting a week's worth of Wordless Wednesdays.  New fun pics of our crazy family every day this week.  Enjoy!!!