Doing "IT" quitely.

There are many, MANY things I have learned how to do quietly.

Why???... you might ask,
did learning how to do things quietly
become big enough to make an entire post out of?

Well this is why ...


Because there is nothing more precious
to a momma of three,
then three sleeping little loves.

And there is NOTHING worse to a lover of three little kiddos then accidentally waking one of them up and getting this reaction...


I want to give you a little list of all the things that I have learned how to do quietly

Here I go, The small list of things I have learned to do quietly,

1. Walk. It is amazing how much noise you can make just by walking down the hall!

2. Blow dry my hair..I close my bedroom door and then go into my closet and close that door too.

3. Close doors. Make sure you have your hubby grease all the hinges. (lesson learned)

4. Rinse your hair in the shower. This one I have to say I am really proud of! I learned that if you have a lot of hair when you wring out your hair and the water hits the bottom of the tub it makes a loud noise and it can and will wake up a baby!! So here is what you do...when your hair is full of water, wring it out onto the shower curtain!!! It just slides right down into the tub rather than splatting on the bottom of it.

5. Talk on the phone. This is obvious but go into another area of the house... another lesson learned the hard way...

6. Play with the other kids while one is sleeping. This was a simple fix. All the rooms are down the hall way so when one of them is sleeping I just block off the hall with this great long foot stool my hubby got me. (which is now the toy box instead of a foot rest...but ya know its all about what works these days.)

7. Laundry. It is all about closing the lids and doors gently...oh so gently.

8. Going to the restroom. Don't flush until they are all awake. Trust me.

One might say...
just do those things like you normally would do
and the kids will get use to the noise.
That sounds really simple and great.
But the reality of it is that I would have to go through A LOT of this...

When all I really want is this

So there ya have it.
A few of my hard life lessons learned
on being quite
while little ones are asleep.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me some of your tips on being quite, we all gotta stick together on this nap thing! It makes a mommas world go 'round.

PS for all of you who checked into my post because of my blog title...sorry to disappoint! I have no tips for ya there. That is not what this blog is about ;)

Love ya and thanks for reading my ramblings...

A girl and her Grandpa

Claire has many, many amazing relationships.
Claire is such a sweet and lovable child.

But,
One of the most precious relationships Claire has is with her Grandpa.
It makes me smile how she talks about him all the time!
Her and her grandpa have sweet songs they sing together.
They tell the most fabulous stories to each other,
about how birds land on their shoulders,
and squirrels run under their legs.

They go on walks, ride on tractors, go fishing,
read books, watch movies, have slumber parties, eat popcorn,
they are making some great memories.

And love between them is unconditional.



Now that we are all a little older, (sigh...)
take some time to think about someone who spent extra time with YOU
someone who made you feel special.
I would love to hear your precious memories and
I am sure my other readers would enjoy
hearing about them too!

Life at the Shrocks

They are getting so big so fast!!

Stella rockin' her mad writing skills

Stella wants to do EVERYTHING her big sister does..she is 16 months and even wants to sit on the potty... and can accomplish the task from time to time...

Ben rockin a giant smile.

This little boy brings so much silliness to our home...Oh and he has learned how to defend himself...the girls do not take advantage of him quite so much!!

Claire rocking her new bike

She is such a big girl!!
She is smart as a whip
(what ever that means) ;)
And is really starting to get the hang of the big sister thing!
I am seeing glimmers of hope because
she likes to make them smile, she likes to share, and she likes to tell everyone about them!

Breakfast at the Shrock's.
I am normally sitting in the seat between Ben and Stella shoveling food in to their little mouths.

I am so thankful that we are now falling into the grove and life is smoothing out!
(it took 5 months) ...But that's OK.

Thank you Lord!
All Glory is His.

Benjamin at OneTrueMedia.com

Here is the story of how Ben came to be part of our family! Please watch, be inspired and inspire others. Feel free to share with others who have a heart for adoption.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Story of Stella

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Bringing Stella and Ben home!

Sorry it took me so long... I've been a little busy with 3 little ones ;)
Enjoy this video, be inspired, and be blessed!!! I only let you all in on this very personal journey in hopes that it will inspire just one person to change the world for one more orphan!!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Mood of Monday (Its Wednesday now)

My Heart is SO FULL!
After spending the weekend with some of the most amazing people I could possibly think of I am so happy this Monday.

It was so wonderful to see so many of the kiddos again! I loved to see the transformation in them. From being in an orphanage to being in a loving home ... that changes everything for these kids! To feel worth and love...
something everyone deserves.
I had the privilege to see it 1st hand this weekend in so many kids!

And it also made me take a step back and reflect on my little ones,
And the transformation that happened in MY LIFE because of bringing them into our lives.

Adoption changes everything!

I love this picture! It was so muggy in TN that is fogged up my lens but I kind like it ;)
Swimming with daddy, we were in the pool A LOT!
Some of the ahhhmazing CCI momma's
Oh my trouble....

Always a good time with the Armburstmachers.
These are just a few pic's from this amazing weekend!! Loved every second of it!

Wordless Wednesday

Moody Monday

Sometimes I wish I could throw fits like this again. They only last a minute or so. This girl sure does know how to let her emotions out!! Its a good thing that she knows how to express herself, but she really needs to keep it in check sometimes... but ya know she is only 14 months... whats a girl suppose to do???

you can still see the "tears" in her eyes... but she wants to smile.

And by the way all of these "mood's" happened in about 15 seconds.
Yep that's my Stella!

Sleepy Sunday

We have had one crazy weekend! (sigh)

I love nothing more then the weekends. Darin is home and the kids enjoy having him around. He is always pumped and excited to spend time with them after working all week.

So sleepy


Darin and I celebrated 7 wonderful year of marriage.
It has been so much fun taking time this weekend to be together, just the two of us!!

But that meant that the kiddos have been with grandmas all weekend. And they are beat.

What did you all do this weekend? Do you notice a difference in your kiddos after they are at grandmas house too?

Fun Friday

So lets be real, every day here is fun! But I will now be making it a point to make sure we do something "extra fun." But unfortunately since I just decided to make this format for my blog last night I really did not have much time to plan anything. So this is our typical Friday. Macy my cousin is here. She is 11 and helps me out a ton! She loves my kids almost as much as I do!!
Benny Boo eating breakfast.
He loves to eat!!

Claire got into my tupper ware cabinet and decided this would make a "fun" hat. And that poor bunny she is holding has been through the ringer. He is not allowed to come in the house any more because he is so dirty and has been put in the kiddy pool a few too many times. But she loves him anyways.

A little bit of play time with mommy.

Holy Smokes she just keeps getting prettier and prettier.

Gorgeous! Stella is such a gem! She is SO funny. I might just do an entire Funny Friday on her because she could take an entire blog post with all the funny stuff she does.

Summer Time

Just thought I would post some pictures of the beautiful faces I get to see every day!!! So in love.

Sending love

2 Loving daddies and their PRECIOUS baby girls.

I start this post with showing what one way to love looks like. But there are MANY WAYS TO SHOW LOVE.

I am going to give you a simple way that will slowly, over time start to change your heart and open your eyes to make your world much bigger and better!!

James 1:17 ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

As Christians we are called to love, protect, support and pray for the least of these. Through Awake and Alive, the organization started by myself and fellow adoptive momma Danielle we will be offering you exciting ways to get involved and be a part of what God calls pure and faultless religion.

We are in the process of starting a school in Kechene, Ethiopia. Kechene is a slum in the capitol and these children NEED your help to get an education and CHANGE THEIR WORLDS!! We will also be taking mission trips over there, and that will be a great opportunity to see the reality that these little kiddos deal with every day.

You can find us on Facebook, by searching for Awake and Alive to keep in the know that way also.

It's a love hate thing.

Pacifiers...

I loved them!!! They were the BIGGEST blessing for the past 2 years. And have been THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD the last few days!!!

We have decided Claire is 2 1/2 and old enough to not have that thing in her mouth all the time!!! So we went cold turkey!

Claire was so proud to become a BIG GIRL and say," bye bye" to her paci's.

One night I asked "Claire do you want to go to bed with out your paci tonight? It will make you a big girl." and she said, "yes Mommy." She had NO CLUE WHAT SHE WAS IN FOR! Neither did we....

That night was OK Darin held her on the couch until she fell asleep. No big deal...I was thinking, "wow this is going to be easy." The next day was Sunday and she woke up TICKED... wondering where her paci was... I reminded her she was a Big Girl and she did not need a paci any more!!

She then informed me. "I want to be a baby!! I do not want to be a big girl!!!" Oh boy... here we go.

A few days went by and it was not fun for ANYONE!!! ...we limped along with no paci

It was literally like a drug with drawl one night!! She was shaking, sweating, crying, and could hardly breath! I was scared for her! Darin laid down with her until she fell asleep, around 11!!! I went in to check on her around midnight before we went to bed and she was still sniffing in her sleep. ((((HEARTBREAKING)))))

Then it was Monday and I had to tackle her and the absence of the paci all by myself!! It was absolutely awful!

She was a bear when she woke up! She just cried, threw fits, and was mean! Then it was nap time and boy oh boy... when I finally got her to sleep at 3 (nap time is normally 12) she slept maybe 15 minutes and woke up and was NOT HAPPY!

So I called Darin, because after 3 days of this I was at my wits end, and said..."we might need to give the paci back, but just at sleeping times!!" And that is what we have done.

We can all sleep and she is doing OK with the fact that she can only have Paci when she is in bed...All is well in her world again...

Wow it has been a year.

It has been one year since our referrals! With adoption there are many different "stages" in which you become a family. In your heart, legally, and then once they are actually in your arms and in your care.



We became a family of 4 in our hearts on June 17th when we got our referral and 1st saw pictures our baby Ben.


And a family of 5 on June 29th when we received pictures and we saw sweet Stella for the 1st time.



What a difference one year makes!!

Baby Ben


Sweet Stella






It is amazing to look at the difference.

Full

So full.

So full of JOY.
So full of LOVE.
So full of PEACE
So full of EMOTIONS.

So full of THANKS.... I am THANKFUL.

When I look at these pictures I am just so full.

When I think back on our last adoption process, my heart swells with love and appreciation for each and everyone of you who went before our Heavenly Father and prayed for us, for those of you who gave so generously, whether is was donations for our garage sale, MONEY, (which this time around we needed EVERY SINGLE PENNY) hand me down clothes for the kiddos, donations for the orphanages when we traveled, and those of you who allowed us to borrow cameras and suitcases for the trip. I am so thankful for all of you who called, e-mailed, hugged, encouraged, and were just present during in the crazy ups and downs during the hard, hard wait.

I now am so thankful again to each one of you who pour love into our sweet little ones! We are truly blessed and I am in awe of the people God has put into our lives and into their lives. Each one of you has touched our family in such a deep, life altering way that is is hard to put into words.

I look at those pictures and I reflect on the struggles we faced during the process, the heart ache during the wait, the ups and downs, the unknown. I think of it and I am so thankful for all of that hurt we experienced because it makes these pictures and our life now that much more FULL!

Just fun

Because my last post was so heavy, I wanted to post some of the FuNnY things that have been happening around this crazy house!

Claire is obsessed with poop. She always wants to look at it after one of the babies makes a mess. She has told me that she is big enough now to change their diapers. And honestly if they would hold still long enough I think she could do it! But the ironic thing is that she does not want to go in the potty. She will tell me, "no I poop in my diaper." Another funny, Claire has a corner that she always goes to and poops in. There is a gap between our fridge and pantry. Thats where the "magic" happens.Also Claire found out the hard way that when things are thrown in the trash they are gone for good. Yesterday she asked to watch Barney and I was looking all through the DVD's and I could not find it anywhere!! I asked her, "Claire do you know where Barney is?" and she said, "I put him in 'da trash." So there was a life lesson because a few minutes before that I just threw the trash out. :( Barney is no more... Sorry Sweet girl.

Stella has learned that being chased is a BLAST.

And then there is Ben who just laughs at everything.

What a joy they all are!!

Letting Go

To say that I was overwhelmed the last month would not even come close to describing how I have been feeling.
The 1st 2 weeks of having Stella and Benjamin home was nothing but Dr. appointments and hospital visits. (regular adoption stuff)
Stella was scared and teething so I literally could not put her down. If I would put her down to tend to another child I would have to get her distracted first, but that would be short lived and she would come screaming and thrashing back to me. So I held her for a month straight.
Ben has had what we thought to be scabies and we have treated him 6 times!!! That also means that we bleached and bagged everything 6 times!! Only now to be referred to a dermatologist because it is not going away. Scabies is HIGHLY contagious and none of us have gotten it. So I am sure that is not the problem.
Claire was adjusting to having 2 new ones in the house. Everyone told me how she was acting was normal. But it was not "normal" for me!! Claire has always been so well behaved, well mannered, and so sweet. But since they have been home she has struggled. Its been about a month now where she would throw herself on the ground, throw her head into the wall, hit, scream and just burst into tears for no real reason.
I thought I had to be right there for EVERY out burst, every whimper, every laugh. I thought it was my motherly duty to jump at every noise! Not to mention that I still thought my house had to be spotless and laundry had to be done and put away.
After a month and a half I have come to the realization that I just have to let some things go.
I have learned that I need family,friends, and coffee!! I have learned I can not be there for every fight the girls have. They just have to learn to duke it out. I have learned that just because Ben is quite does not mean he does not need me. I have learned that Claire's fits are her just being 2 and needing extra praise. I have learned that I have to take care of my mental health if my children are going to get a good momma. I have learned that Stella is so much fun, and she is hilarious. I have learned how to see the absolute blessings that God has given me. I have learned that reading to, playing with, kissing and hugging my babies is far more important than having my make up on or my hair done. I have learned that if there are crumbs on my floor and dishes in the sink..its cool, I have a great excuse now! I have learned that not having their teeth and hair brushed every day is not going to make me a horrible mother. I have also learned that some days they might just stay in their PJ's all day and that is OK. But the biggest thing I have learned is that I have to let go of some of my outrageous expectations of myself and of my kids and that has made me a MUCH better momma!

Let me be very honest when I say that I was not able to keep a clean house or keep on on the laundry or spend all the time I wanted to with each kiddo and I was not even making meals at the time my head was spinning like a top. I felt so heavy with guilt and so overcome with the feeling of being inadequate that it would paralyze me. So with a lot of prayer and an amazing husband I was able to see more clearly what is important! I am sure that I will experience these feelings again, but I will always have the hope that things get better.

Thank you Lord for teaching me when I need to be taught!

My New Life

I will take you a day in reverse.


It is 8pm and all of the kids are in bed...(sigh.)

Change diapers

Before that it is some SERIOUS play time with daddy!! Some nights we take all of the cushions off the couch and love seat and we play a little game Claire's calls "alligator." Stella and Ben love to climb on top of the cushions and roll off. Other nights its a game of hide and seek. Where Claire always hides in her closet and we do our best to act like we have no clue where she could be ;). Darin will find her and she will run as fast as she can to me.. I am her safe base :) Ben and Stella just giggle and laugh while their big sister goes crazy!!!






Change diapers

6:30 is dinner time. So far we have had meals come to the house every Monday through Thursday since we have been home!! Come on people, talk about some serious love and support from friends and family!! I am totally blown away by the BLESSINGS!! Dinner is interesting, we feed the kids 1st. Normally Darin feeds Ben and helps Claire and I get Stella, then its clean up the kiddos, get them interested in something to play with or give them some puff's, or Cheerios, and we will get Luke-warm dinner. :) We all sit there together for about a half hour. Wouldn't change it for anything!!

Change diapers

The hardest part of my day is between 4 and 6. That is the time where all of the kids are up at once and they are bored with me and want daddy to come home. They are typically getting hungry and fussy around 530.

Change diapers

Lunch and naps start at 12. Lunch is your typical Mac and Cheese, apple sauce, and green beans. (what I grew up on) Every now and again I throw in a hot dog, switch up the veggie, or if we have some kind of left over from the night before they might get lasagna or other kind of pasta. After lunch it is nap time and all the kiddos go down around 12:30 or 1. They all will sleep for 1 and half hours. Claire sometimes is down for 3.

Change diapers

Mornings are always fun. It brings the excitement of a new day! We are all up by 8. Sometimes one of the girls might be up around 630 or 7. I will get breakfast on a wake up basis. Then we play and the babies go down at some point after breakfast. It all just depends on when they get fussy and I feel they need a nap. They are all morning kids. I have found that mornings are the best for them! They are sweet and snugly.

I could not have made this unimaginable adjustment with out my mom! She is the most amazing, loving, helpful, compassionate person I know! Thank you MOMMA!