In the Blink of an Eye

In the blink of an eye I have gone from a high school student excitedly anticipating my wedding to the man of my dreams, to a college graduate, registered nurse, exciting travels with just David and I, to pregnant with our first princess, moved from our first home to our 2nd house we built, 2nd house sold and 3rd house remodeled while expecting our first handsome "little bird man," enjoying our 2 children and starting the process to adopt internationally from Vietnam, with a miracle sent from God (aka Carson), running through the house chasing little ones, feel God leading us to enlarge our family with another little princess, start our 2nd international adoption, travel around the world to bring our little girl home, in the midst of this adoption God tugs our hearts and minds so that we feel we are to spread the Gospel full-time in another country, travel to Costa Rica where God leads us in every step, selling unpaid car and house for sale, simplifying the things that we have and ridding what we don't need, Olivia's last summer before she begins homeshooling gone, Carson potty training, an aunt twice now of little Caysen Kirk and our precious Kaden and a little niece on the way and preparing our family to make the biggest move of our lives to another country.
Since I have last posted David and I celebrated our 10th anniversary, the most wonderful 10 years of my life. He is the man I prayed for and dreamed about. He is my best friend. He is who, at the the end of the day, loves me for who I am, no matter how messy the house, or if supper didnt get made because of the chaotic day with the kids. Piles of laundry do not bother him. He knows I do the best I can. He helps me. People have asked me, "How do you get everything? How do you have time to bake cookies and muffins? Do you ever sleep? When do you find the time for projects?" I don't. There is no "I" in the equation. He helps me. He bathes kids when I need him to. He folds laundry. He pays bills (when I ask him to); he doesn't mind, he just doesn't know when they have to be paid. He lets me sleep. Yes, he gets up with the kids on Saturdays. They do let him sleep in til usually 8:30. He is an early riser so he doesn't mind. He is my leader. I lean on him for everything and I do not know what I would do without him. I heard so many times from people when they found out I was going to marry so young, that it will never last, you will never make it past a couple years. Well, we have made it 10 and I pray the Lord blesses us with another 50+.

A Little Update on the little Raboins:

Leia- This past week she has started crawling, more of an army crawl. But it gets her where she needs to go. She can say "Dadda" and "Bye",and a whole lot of jabbering. She has discovered food, real food, not the yucky baby stuff. She refuses to eat baby food, but will enjoy anything that mommy will put in her mouth. She loves to play with her brothers and sister, and they eat it up. She is not so much a fan of ccar rides. Like a dog wags its tail, she flaps her arms and legs like a bird flapping through the wind; this is her way of showing you her happiness. She loves to snuggle with her Mommy. Easy-going she is. She is my baby princess.

Carson- We have tried at different times since this past Spring to try potty training. He was never interested. Well, last week was no different. But Mommy and Daddy refuse to buy anymore diaper. I am determined. Started last week and we are making some progress. Everyone who helps take care of him is now on board. He doesn't so so well with underpants on, but can seem to usually remember when he is bare bottom. Forget the potty chair. I decided while training Logan that is for the birds. Straight to the bog potty we go. He can even climb up and down himself. Way to go Carson!! M&Ms are the reward of choice. He is talking a little more. We seem to think he is just a bit lazy with his pronunciation. You have to make him look at you and watch your mouth then repeat things; seems to be helping. The pool has not been his favorite thing this year. But, now that it is end of summer, he will at least get in and smile instead of crying and whining. His imagination is really starting to develop. I will hear him playing with toys and making car crashing sounds or dinosaur growls. It is so cute. He is "my lil Brown boy" who has a smile that will follow you to your toes.

Logan- He keeps me on my toes, so do the others, but him just a fraction more. He is all boy, and I love him to pieces. As rough as he appears to others, he has the sweetest heart. He hurts when you cry. It upsets him when others are upset. He will hold you, kiss you, and comfort you. He is considerate of others. He doesn't want you to be sad. He gives wonderful "squeezy" hugs. His sister slathers him with the biggest wet kisses on his cheek, and he just smiles and says, "She loves me." He is our fish. He is a great swimmer with floaties, will jump in, go under, and never flinch. So, this past weekend he thinks he can jump into the deep end of a pool with no floaties. Thank you Lord that his Daddy was already in the water close by. He decided after that he better not do that again. Growing, growing, growing. He is always hungry. Every 5 minutes he asks for a snack. He gives me a run for my money, but at the end of the day I still wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

Olivia- My first baby, and always one of my babies. She starts kindergarten in a week an half. I am going to be homeschooling her. I started working on her lesson plans and am excited to see if she will enjoy it. She is super excited about doing school at home. I could not stand the thought of leaving her in someone else's hands for 40 hours every week. I want to protect her, teach her, and guide her. But I will also be a strict teacher. I feel education is so important and should not be taken lightly. You never know where God will place you in this world, and you must be prepared spiritually, mentally, and physically. She is the best baby sitter I know. She cares so much for her sister. She carries her around, tend to her when she cries, feeds her bottles. She has even told me that she wants to learn how to change diapers. We had a little session last week, and she even begged to help with "poops." What can I say, she is also a little mother hen. We are working on adjusting that a bit. She is you poster child of a first born child. She is a nurturer. She cares for her siblings, watches over them, loves them, and worries about them at the young age of 5. She can say some of the most beautiful prayers to her Heavenly Father that is melts my heart.

I have so much more to say, but all for another day.