My New Passion

Other then Caleb, and Audrey of course, well, and Jesus, and my husband, none of which are new passions, I have stumbled upon a new passion. I say stumbled upon because I did not seek this out. God has been cultivating this in me in recent weeks and months, maybe even years, and suddenly, in the last month, it has been constantly on my heart and mind.

Adoption

My thoughts turn to adoption whenever I have a moment to myself. I am learning a lot, and processing a lot, and praying a lot. I still do not know exactly how God is going to weave adoption into the fabric of my life, our lives, but I know that he has been at work in me. I know he has already been weaving adoption into my life. I know that I am feeling a strong calling or desire, or both to be involved in adoption. I know that God has placed, and used certain people in my life recently that have taught me so much about adoption. I know that God clearly calls us to love and care for the orphans in Scripture.

I know that I have been adopted, by God, and that Jesus was adopted, by Joseph, and that I am learning so many compelling truths about adoption that I feel like there is more to the story.

So I will learn, and pray, and walk with those people God has placed in my life who are adopted and have adopted.

To be continued...

Wacky Wednesday

Last week was Read Across America, a day to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss by encouraging children to read. We turned it into a week of reading fun and activities at the Schalesky house and on Wednesday, we read Wacky Wednesday. We did not only read Wacky Wednesday, we were Wacky Wednesday. Christian got up before any of us and made everything downstairs wacky~ shoe on the wall, chair on the table, etc. and the kids and I dressed really wacky (I promise I did not go anywhere but my friends house). Caleb and Audrey were so pleased, and we were happy to please them.

Wacky Wednesday is the perfect way to begin as I attempt to return to blogging. It has been awhile, a long while, and with good reason. Ever since Audrey was born, and honestly, a bit before, I have been feeling pretty wacky.

A lot happened, Christian's job changed and got REALLY busy right as I got pregnant with Audrey. Then, my pregnancy with her was tough, nothing too serious, but tough for me. In the midst of this, Christian and I were exploring a job opportunity and a big move, which we decided not to take after 5 months of checking it out. Then, Christian's job changed again. Then, Audrey was born, and Caleb stopped sleeping well. Right about this time, I entered into a time of fear and questioning, as three people I care a lot about were dealing with some very tough things that I was wrestling greatly with. And the affordable housing list we had been on suddenly offered us 3 opportunities to buy a home. We entered into a 6 month+ house search and escrow and then we moved. Finally, time to let things settle down? Nope, the week we were moving, Christian was asked to apply for a different job, and we began a very intense 5 months of searching out whether or not to take on this new, life changing position. Of course, we were working on the new house this entire time and raising two little children. He decided to take the job, and we took a month off for time to connect, catch up, transition. But we got sick, all of us, for about 2 months. We all took turns getting sick, but I was sick pretty much the whole time, and it was Audrey's birthday, and Christmas. We got better, had one REALLY good week, and then Christian started his new job. Which, to sum up, is great and overwhelming at the same time. I say this here not to complain, but to explain, that this year+ has resulted in me feeling a little wacky on more days then I would have thought.

You see, I have this rock I lean on. It is my peace, my strength, my redemption, my hope, my joy. But, somehow, in the last year plus of my life, I have been leaning on, clinging to something else. What was I leaning on? I am not totally sure, but I think I was trying to lean on myself, which if you have ever tried that, is not very effective. I don't think I realized until recently how little I was leaning on my rock, and how much I was leaning on myself.

So here I am, feeling wacky, and contemplating, many things. Mostly, I am contemplating how necessary it is to lean on, cling to the rock.

Audrey Crawling!!!

On Father's Day, Audrey decided to crawl. She has been scooting backwards for weeks, but she went forward for the first time today. SHe got progressibely better at it as the day went on too. I tried to post a video here, but it wasn;t working, too long? Will try to get a shorter one.

For now, go to my Facebook profile and check it out there. Click on Video from the tabs in my profile and you will see her. I tried to post a link... htat was working either for some reason...

So cute. Watch the video to the end for her stunt. :)

Audrey's Dedication

I wanted to invite all our family and good friends for Audrey's dedication. Then, someone talked to me about how Audrey is being dedicated in our church and it is our church that is committing to point her to the Lord and pray for her. Okay. Here are some pictures though anyway, as I just think her dedication is special and I want to share it with all who love her.



Grammy Claire and Pappa Jerry planned to come to town to help us pack, so they got to be here (although we did not end up packing).

Christian found the verse we chose for her. I love it!

Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

I like it that both Caleb and Audrey's verses we dedicated them to the Lord with are from the Old Testament. Seems so foundational to me.

Since I wasn't blogging at the time, I will do a separate post about Caleb's dedication, also super special!

Audrey's 2nd tooth, the cause of massive sleep deficit

Greetings from Audrey


Audrey's first tooth came through a few weeks ago, and I could feel the bulge of the 2nd tooth, but it had not broken through her gums yet. Well, after a brutal night of no sleep for all of us last night (Why is the Motrin not working? Seriously, she is awake again?), I awoke this morning to feel a very jagged edge, rather two jagged edges.


Her first tooth has pushed further through and her second tooth is now poking through her gums, and apparently, causing her extreme discomfort. I will be going to bed after this post, as tonight has already promised frequent wakings (even though we gave her teething tablets and Tylenol already). Have the Motrin awaiting her next wake up, and on my way to get some Orajel tomorrow. And I thought Caleb had a hard time teething!

She sure is a cutie in spite of it all!

7th Wedding Anniversary

We had a wonderful realization... Of course you bring your two sick kids along for your 7th wedding anniversary date! What else encapsulates 7 years of marriage anyway, then 2 sick kids, and 2 extremely tired parents?

We had a great time, and Mmmmm, the food at Cafe Buenos Aires never disappoints! (Especially with weekday Happy Hour deals and Axxess discounts.)

Love my husband!


Love my family!

First Foods

Audrey turned 6 months old on May 6th.
We celebrated with:
Avocado


Banana


Rice Cereal


Not all on the same day of course.
I think zuchinni or sweet potato are next on the list. Thus far, she is a fan of everything except peas... those made her quite upset at night...

She is quite pleased when drinking water too.