Christmas 2011

01/05/2012

It was by far the best Christmas ever, thanks to a sweet little someone. Precious was equally interested in the gift wrappings and the goodies inside. (My kind of girl!) She curiously watched as we opened presents and even helped a little. My family has a tradition of having homemade Swedish meatballs for dinner on Christmas eve. The were delicious, as always. After that, we decided to just go for it and open all the presents from and for my parents, and from my siblings. My parents have a tradition of giving us an ornament every year. This year Precious got a customized baby’s first Christmas ornament.

We all got adequately spoiled. Jason and I are particularly enjoying our new Keurig. (This one, if you’re in the market for one.)

Precious got a bunch of new clothes—much needed since she’s quickly growing out of 6 month size already—and some new toys and books. She got this pretty shirt from Uncle Aaron and Aunt Laura.

And this really cool crinkly, textured book from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Jess and cousin Iris.

Christmas morning at our house was very laid back. I was the first one awake at 9:30. Even Lucy slept in! I tried to wake Precious first, without success, then Jason who told me to go back to sleep—it wasn’t time yet. At 10:00 Precious started stirring so I got her up and dressed and together we woke Daddy. She waited patiently by the tree while we got the Keurig fired up with some fresh coffee.

In her stocking, Precious had a new headband and three pairs of socks.

I decided to adopt a tradition from Design Mom to just give our kids three gifts for Christmas: something to wear, something to read and something to play with. This year for Precious that meant leg warmers, a book with textures and a crinkle-rattle-mirror-teether toy. She’s been enjoying all three.

Jason and I kept it simple for each other too, with a budget of $35 for each other. (Not including stocking stuffers.) I took some pictures but decided not to post the sleepy-eyed, pre-shower Christmas morning pics. I gave Jason a pair of hand weights and a new shirt. He gave me a new hat, a strawberry corer and  a Joie Piggy Wiggy bacon tray. I’m pretty ecstatic about the bacon cooker, which was on my wish list. I like to make bacon for breakfast on occasion and I hate the greasy mess it makes. This thing is amazing! The grease drips and splatters off the bacon is is contained inside the Piggy Wiggy, where it can be drained. I highly recommend this thing if you ever cook bacon. Moving on…

We went over to my parents for lunch where we were joined by Jason’s parents, my bro- and sis-in-law Dan and Ginger, my niece Eliza, Ginger’s dad Jim and our friend Jeremy. It was a nice group. We ate a TON of wonderful foods, did a silly white elephant gift exchange for the adults, real gift exchange for the kids and relaxed the rest of the day. Jason’s parents also had a boat load of gifts for Precious including new books and toys. I’m really glad we started the tradition of just 3 gifts for our kids because the grandparents and aunts and uncles are all very generous too!

Precious with cousin Eliza

Dad and Jason (sporting his new shirt from me)

Moms

And finally, one last snap of the pretty Shiny Brite ornaments before they get packed away…

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The Land

01/04/2012

We’ve been referring to the chunk of dirt, grass and trees we own as “the land.” We stopped by there one day last week to finally get a picture of the three of us. My mom walked down (a looooong walk, 6 house down!) to snap these photos for us. Standing on this ground makes us so excited about our new house. We’re really looking forward to the planning and building process next year.

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Her Testimony

01/03/2012

I debated about whether or not to share this because I know not everyone will get it. If you’re not a Christ-follower, it might sound totally random. I still wanted to share. The word testimony is thrown around a lot in Christian circles. Basically, it’s my story—who I was and how I got to who I am today. But when God gets ahold of a life, it’s really His story. Sharing my testimony brings glory to who God is and how He has turned my life around. It reflects His character, His power, His goodness and faithfulness.

Jump to the surrender day. Right before we were called back to the judge’s quarters I took Precious to the restroom for a diaper change. On the way there, someone stopped me.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, ma’am?” I turned towards a heavy black woman with a kind face, expecting her to say Precious was about to lose her sock or something along those lines.

“Oh! Look at her!” she said. “I’m just here with my sister,” she patted the woman next to her, “but we saw her from across the room and I said, ‘I have got to touch that baby!'”

And that point, I had turned toward her and I was thinking, wait—touch?

She reached out and put her right and on Precious’ right thigh. “Oh, she is a blessing!” she squealed.

I smiled. “She sure is. She’s like this all the time; she’s the happiest, most content baby we’ve ever seen.”

“That’s going to be her testimony!” the woman declared back.

And that was that. I went on with the diaper change and the rest of the court process but what she said kept resonating. She didn’t know who we were or anything about our situation. For a stranger to call my daughter a blessing would not be terribly uncommon but to use the word testimony. Her joy is going to be her testimony. We’ve seen it already. I’ve been telling people, even at just a few months old Precious already has a great testimony. She has been through so much yet she has been protected, she’s right on track developmentally, she’s beautiful and healthy, and she’s truly joyful and content. We believe God has great plans for her and none of what she has come through has been random or by accident.

Her joy is going to be her testimony.

 

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Surrendering

01/01/2012

Four days before Christmas, on the 3-month anniversary of when Precious joined our family, we found ourselves sitting in the juvenile courthouse once again. This time we didn’t have a hearing; we were there to meet in the judge’s quarters and accept a surrender of parental rights from Precious’ birth mother. It was a rough day. Brave spent a lot of time holding her youngest child, telling her she loves her, kissing her big fat cheeks. She asked us a lot of questions about her sleeping and eating, if she was enjoying the toys she gave her at her last visit, if she’s sitting up yet or getting her first tooth, if we’re going to change her name. Brave was proudly wearing the locket I gave her with Precious’ picture in it and said she shows it to everyone she meets. She told Precious how she thinks about her everyday but she was really thinking a lot about her on her 5 month birthday, wondering how she was doing. I’m glad that things have smoothed out and that we have the relationship we do with Brave now. I’m not sure how things will look as we move forward. She asked if we can send her pictures on Precious’ first birthday with her face covered in cake. We assured her we will. She reiterated to Jason (since he wasn’t at the two previous visits) that she doesn’t have anything against us and never did, but just hopes that all of her children can stay in touch because it is not their fault all of this happened, it’s hers. She’s a strong woman and she has a lot of love for her kids. We’re praying hard for her recovery. It doesn’t seem like she has any confidence in or love for herself.

The actual surrender process was very bittersweet. Brave cried as she firmly answered all the judge’s questions. She understood what she was doing and why but it didn’t make it any easier. In other ways, it was a happy time. It was the same judge who had given us custody a little more than a month earlier. (We love her!) She was so happy to see that we were doing well and moving forward with an adoption attorney. Precious’ guardian ad litem who had been key in all of this was there too, and he was happy. The baliff who had been in court with us previously told both Jason and I privately how thankful she was that all this worked out the way it did and how it was not just a Christmas gift for us, but for her as well. The judge gave Precious a big soft teddy bear to commemorate the day. At the end of the process, it was just our family of three, our attorney and the judge left in the conference room. We were able to really thank her for what she did for Precious back on November 15th. She went above and beyond what she had to do because she believed it was the right thing to do and we’ve very grateful for her decision—she’s a very sweet but strong woman. She asked us to bring Precious back when she’s 16 so she can see that she’s still doing well, then said—no, don’t wait that long! Come back to visit sooner than that.

When we left the judge’s chambers Brave was already gone. We had been hoping to talk to her some more, to thank her and encourage her. I wanted to give her a hug. But it was too late. I know why she slipped out so quickly. I would have done the same thing. There is so much good and bad tangled together in this whole situation. We are blessed and we are grateful but we’re also sad for Brave and Precious. Please pray for them, especially Brave who is really hurting right now.

6 Comments | Family, Family: Foster Parenting, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Cousins’ First (and Only?) Fight

12/26/2011

I’m going to be taking the rest of the week off from blogging but I thought I’d leave you with this little fight sequence I caught on camera over Thanksgiving of Precious and her cousin Iris. You’ll probably have to enlarge it to read the dialog.

I’ll see you back here on January 2, 2012!

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Phone Photo Friday

12/23/2011

Jason is home for Christmas! Actually, he’s home for a good while. Choongie and I are happy to have our daddy/husband around. As I’m preparing this post, Jason is in his studio working on his lullabies album, trying to get it finished before he’s back out on tour. I am loving listening to it already.

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Precious: Monthly Portrait 5

12/22/2011

Precious is 5 months old! On one hand, it’s hard to believe she’s been with for 3 months already, and the other hand, it feels like she’s been with us forever. We love our little daughter. She brings us so much joy. She is almost always happy. Choongie has become her nickname to Jason and me, because of the sound she used to make when she sneezed. (She doesn’t anymore. Boo.) She is not too interested in getting around yet. She still hasn’t figured out how to roll but she’s thisclose to getting from her back to her belly. Precious is talking up a storm, though. We love to hear her babbling and squealing. She often sounds like she’s saying “hi” and “hey,” which would make sense since we say, “Hi Baby!” to her every morning when we greet our smiling girl in her crib. And when she’s crying, it sounds like she’s saying “Dada!” and “Daddy!” Jason is the best at soothing her when she’s got gas pain so maybe she knows what she’s doing calling for him.. She’s grabbing toys, especially the crinkly ones, and she enjoys looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her new tricks this week are reaching out for our faces and grabbing on to our arms/necks when we pick her up. So sweet. Precious is a jolly girl and she makes our lives much richer.

Here are some runner-up pictures. It was hard for me to decide.

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Pinterest December 2011 Additions: In My Dream House

12/21/2011

Are you on Pinterest? Since we’re in the process of planning our dream house, I’ve been trying to remember to pin images of features I love for our future home. Here are a few recent additions and what I loved about them.

I love the art and the fireplace here:

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Martina on Pinterest

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Light airy living room with huge windows. Love it. Somewhere in the great room, if not in the living room:

Source: gallery.apartmenttherapy.com via Martina on Pinterest

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Super cute breakfast nook, though I may prefer an island or peninsula in the kitchen with stools instead:

Source: designsponge.com via Martina on Pinterest

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The next 3 images totally inspired me to rethink the “den” into more of a creative space, playroom, art room:

Source: designmom.com via Martina on Pinterest

Source: designmom.com via Martina on Pinterest

Source: designmom.com via Martina on Pinterest

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Craft supply storage:

Source: designsponge.com via Martina on Pinterest

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Remind me to make sure we create a space in the kitchen to store cookbooks. I love what they did here on the island. Also, I like the white cabinet doors and white subway tile backsplash:

Source: designsponge.com via Martina on Pinterest

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Things I Love About This House – Master Shower

12/20/2011

When Jason and I went to Costa Rica for my sister and brother-in-law’s wedding a couple years ago, we stayed at a beauty house in Manuel Antonio. Somehow Jason and I ended up with the bedroom with the biggest bathroom. It had a huge walk in shower with two shower heads. We were sold. We decided when we renovated our master bathroom, it absolutely had to have duel shower heads. We made this shower 4’x5′, probably less than half of the size of the one in Costa Rice, but still plenty big. We did all the tile work by hand and it took a ridiculously long time. A true labor of love for us and our house.

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Posted by mahlbrandt

Christmas Babies

12/19/2011

On Saturday my sister-in-law Ginger suggested we go to the Opryland Hotel to look at the Christmas decorations with the babies. My bro-in-law Dan, our friend Leila, her son Jaron, and my mom also came along. It’s a beautiful, huge hotel with massive indoor gardens, fountains, and even a river. And they really do it up for Christmas. I didn’t take a lot of pictures but I got a few good ones and Leila sent me some of hers.

Leila took this one of my mom holding Jaron and me with my baby. Precious reached out and took Jaron’s hand right before the picture snapped. So sweet!

Eliza is a tiny toddler. I love it! She’s 10 months old and a wee bit smaller than Precious but she’s going to be taking her first steps (without help) very soon.

What really struck me when I saw this picture is how much our lives have changed this year. My niece Eliza was born in February, our daughter was born in July and baby Jaron was born in October. Each came into his/her family a different way: born biologically, through foster care and through an agency adoption; respectively. We all became mamas this year—couldn’t have planned that better if we had tried. Also, I find it particularly amusing that these three babies are vanilla, caramel and chocolate.

3 Comments | Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
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