a year ago...

...we were at the jail in sioux county getting fingerprinted as part of the beginning stages in our adoption process. We also had our first meeting with our agency a year ago. My closest friends know that I sweat A LOT at WEIRD times. (Now the whole world knows!) It makes me sweat just thinking about last year and how nervous/anxious/excited we were to take the beginning steps in the process. (And to think about where God has led us in this year.)

It truly is amazing to look back and reflect on the path God hand picked for us. (....lots more thinking and reflecting....so much going through my mind I can't type it all!) but WOW!

With this blog we are so vulnerable. I feel everyone knows what is going on in our life and can watch baby Jacob grow. Don't get me wrong, I like the blog and enjoy writing on it (it's really for my own sake of writing things down and then being able to reference it later and to share with Jacob as he grows older) Another thing is that I write about what's going on - sometimes concerns with Jacob. I really appreciate how no one has sent messages saying we should try 'such and such' with his stomach virus.

I know the Lord placed important people in our lives during our journey. When I needed someone to 'relate' to He put someone there. (It truly is hard to relate to someone when they haven't been through what you are going through. Even if a person as known someone close to suffer similar circumstances, it still isn't the same.) Anyway, I wonder how God is going to use us and our story to help others. I hope I can be the person that others were to me during those really tough times, when someone just needs someone to understand and agree and not judge their feelings. Feelings are not bad, but how we act because of them can be sinful. (That's really difficult to deal with - I know there were times I acted sinful because of my feelings) But truly I wonder where God will lead us from this point on.

I love to use songs as my inspiration - the song "Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath is my inspiration for 2009. Here's the chorus:

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones who are far beyond my reach

Give me your heart for the ones forgotten

Give me your eyes so I can see

So using this I wonder how God will give me His eyes or His arms to reach out to those who are struggling with infertility or pursuing adoption or wondering where God is leading them.

So a year from now...what will I be reflecting on for the coming year? What will 2009 bring? May God bless your family in this new year.

N, MB, J

Happy 4 month day Jacob!

Poor baby Jacob! If only I could report that it was a good day. Jacob of course had his 4 month appt today at the dr office. We were prepared - tylenol had been given in prep for the shots that he would receive. We went with questions/concerns and came away with some good information.

Some of you know the past couple days haven't been the best. Jacob has not been himself - we've blamed it on teething. He does seem to have teeth moving - but ya never know when those pearly whites will actually cut through. His very stinky diapers have been pushed off onto each other (or our neighbor - she did volunteer!)

Jacob seems to have the stomach flu - which is going around. I guess it's good that I don't teach this week. So between teething symptoms, a rosy bottom, achy tummy, and shots today is not a typical Jacob day. Thankfully it's only come out the bottom end - however - it means we are going through way more diapers than normal!

I was able to capture a few snapshots while he was somewhat happy. You know I like to take pictures, and of course I had to get his 4 month shot!

And if you weren't sure what color his eyes are...they are BLUE!

Hopefully he will make a turn around and get feeling better. Until then, we'll keep snuggling and rocking him and giving him LOTS of love!

Merry Christmas

Here are a few moments from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We're much too tired to post about the day, but wanted to share some 'kodak' moments. (captions are above the pictures)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve - Jacob tolerated picture taking

Jacob singing along to either Away in a Manger or We Wish You a Merry Christmas
(Christmas Eve)

He is highly unimpressed.
Maybe opening presents next year will be more fun.

We tried to have Jacob help open his presents.

He helped a little bit!

He looks like he is a cowboy in this picture!

Looking a little bashful as if he didn't just do anything cute!

Merry Christmas, we had a fantastic day!

Merry Christmas

how wonderful

So the poopy clothes from daycare can wait to be washed, the mail can wait to be read, bottles can wait to be washed, I had a wonderful day. The best is picking up Jacob from daycare and having his face light up when he sees me and hears my voice. Then the playing that we get to do once arriving at home - typically after an errand or two needs to be run. How wonderful. So instead of doing the things mentioned above, I'm going to tell you about my wonderful day and reflections on it...

How wonderful is Christmas?! Today at school we had our 'all-school chapel' (for those who don't know what that means, basically our entire school k-8 gathers together to learn about something - our theme throughout the whole year is character traits - this month - generosity) Sharing what you have with a happy spirit. That applies in our lives in so many ways. Today I was overtaken by the generosity of my students - my tree has gifts under it now! (already opened ones from my students) I have an A+ teacher ornament hanging on my tree, a candy jar full of mints that says "teaching is a work of heart (except its actually the heart shape, not the word), hand creams & body washes in fantastic scents, and goodies galore. I don't know why I thought I needed to bake sugar cookies - nostalgia from my childhood perhaps? (Well, they do taste phenomenal! I'm set to gain a few pounds over Christmas break - I also never eat as good of lunch at home as I do at school - thanks Kristie!)

This is also the time of year I begin thinking I'm going to become a diabetic. Too much sugar - whoa! Not enough sugar - watch out!

I tried to control my students intake of sugar today - goodies galore for them too - so parents, I really did try! Hence the amount of goodies (hopefully) in their backpacks when they arrived home after school - if there weren't any - they gobbled it all up before walking through the front door and you better watch out tonight!

Ok, so another area where I reflect on generosity...Jacob. His first mom, who gave birth to him, who suffered the pain of labor and childbirth - chose a plan for her son different than most who labor those pains. (without going into too much detail and protecting her) We are the recipients of her generosity. We pray that we may be the family that she dreamed of for her son. Then, the generosity that so many of you have shown to us in our adoption journey. We really have been showered on with prayer, love, gifts, kindness, willing babysitters (some paid, some not paid). We are truly amazed at how much love people have for Jacob. So many of you have joined us in prayer in bringing him home. We are so grateful. This Christmas really is so different from many others we have had. For several years now we have longed for this moment, faith has really brought us to the place that we are. The trials and tribulations we were going through for several years and now, this! Is it much more than we hoped and imagined?! I dunno - we do dream big - but really, it's fantastic!

We have several friends and family members that this is one of those 'painful' years. It is our prayer that you may persevere through it because God's goodness is in it. So, whether your tree has many gifts under it already or not many (like ours), God gave you His son so that You may live in eternity with Him. That really is the greatest gift of all.

That really makes me look at myself and wonder how I am being generous to others...do I make an impact, am I making an effort? Will my son years down the road think about his mom being generous or being self-fish? Will my students remember me as a happy, outgoing, excited teacher or a grouchy one? What kind of legacy will you leave? Nichole Nordeman sings a song "Legacy" here are a few of the lyrics:

I want to leave a legacy How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough To make a mark on things? I want to leave an offering A child of mercy and grace whoblessed your name unapologetically And leave that kind of legacy (http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/nichole-nordeman/legacy.html)

So hopefully this all made sense. I kind of pieced together some thoughts. I often will write, and what is there, is there, I don't erase or go back and add. Today was a go back and add day, it all makes sense in my little brain, I hope you followed alright.

What kind of legacy are you set to leave?
MB, N, J

Blizzard

UGH! The snow and wind sure doesn't brighten my day. Watching the snow come flying off the roof from the 9 1/2 inches of snow we received Friday morning doesn't give me the warm fuzzies either. I did however enjoy a cup of hot chocolate this morning and that helps some. (And think back 24 hours ago school was canceled and I stayed in my pajamas til 2:00 pm! That also helps a little bit)

What do you do when it's so terrible cold, windy, and snowy outside? Today I plan to bake sugar cookies and stuff my Christmas cards (and hopefully get in the mail).

Thankfully, Nate only works through the lunch hour and will be home in the early afternoon. We were suppose to have a night out with our Bible study tonight - we were even getting a babysitter for Jacob. It seems as if we'll be spending our day inside, which is unfornate. Especially because we have become an aunt and uncle on Nate's side of the family. Jacob has a new baby girl cousin! We are very excited to meet her and sad that it probably won't be today or tomorrow.

I suppose I better get out of my pj's and get going on my activities. Sorry I don't have any pictures to post, they're on the camera, but I haven't transferred them over yet. Yesterday, Jacob was laying on his mat watching the lights go (and wishing for the music to work), his rattle was laying next to him, I went into the kitchen to make french toast for Nate who was working so hard shoveling the snow. The next thing I hear is the rattle shaking. Jacob had picked up the rattle and was playing with it. (The rattle was in a weird place too, up by his shoulder, not an easy reach) It's so neat to watch these milestones take place. Enjoy each moment you are given and treasure it forever!

Warm fuzzies to you
MB

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

So don't have your volume on, I sound ridiculous!

Jacob rolled over for the first time today at 7pm! It was very exciting. He has been close for a few days and we always had the camera 'ready' in case! Tonight of course I didn't have the camera on standby so I caught roll over number two (and 3, 4, 5 & 6!), which was just as fun and surprising as the first one! UnfortuNATEly, Nate was not home to see it, but he saw the video as soon as he arrived. I'm sure we'll try to have Jacob roll over again tonight before he officially goes to bed. (He is currently napping). Well, I'm off to play volleyball, gotta do something to stay warm, right?!

Well, this thing didn't get published while I was at volleyball. Videos + Blogger + Me = not working. UGH! So frustrating.

Please pray for Nate tonight, he is SiCk. I came home to a shivering husband in bed with piles of blankets. I made him take his temperature (that is my addiction when I am sick - I think I take my temp every 15 minutes!) It was 2 degrees below normal. I hope he starts feeling better soon! I also pray that Jacob doesn't get it. Jacob fought through when I was sick and didn't get it after I cared for him and breathed all over him. Tonight Nate was with Jacob for about 2 hours - so I hope that wasn't long enough for Jacob to catch it. Pray that he continues to be a healthy boy.

It seems as if the winter weather will be upon us again tomorrow. This is sure to make for a white Christmas, which will be beautiful. Be safe wherever you are and be smart! Don't drive when you shouldn't be. I love staying home on days/nights like that!

I'll try to work on that video one more time. PTL! Some how, some reason, it worked. I did nothing different than the previous times, but at least you can see him now!

Finally, our internet is back!

So we haven't been neglecting our blog, we have just had a lack of a strong, consistent internet connection. We were finally able to get the people to our house and something was wrong with some wires on the pole the is in the middle of our driveway. (I'm so descriptive aren't I?! The only people who care are the 'techy' people who know the terminology that I don't!) Go figure! At least it wasn't our fault! We were a bit concerned our modem was dying on us. Thankfully all is well and working.
Jacob is so cute in all of his various hats. He has to wear one whenever we got out and he doesn't mind at all! (Especially all the oooo's and aaaaa's he receives from various people we run into as we are out 'n about.)

Saturday evening we exposed Jacob to his first Christmas concert. I want him to be exposed to many things so he can choose what he will like/not like. He did extremely well and the people sitting behind us enjoyed watching him. Nate's sister sang in her last concert at Northwestern. We took complete advantage of it being a Christmas concert and dressed Jacob up for the occasion!

We also took the opportunity being in Orange City to go out to eat. We enjoyed a fantastic meal at Blue Mountain Smokehouse Grille. Somehow Jacob got BBQ sauce on his sleeve....hopefully the washer gets it out!

Within the last 2 weeks Jacob has really been laughing. Before we always said it's like he is laughing, but he's not holding back any more. He is ticklish in a few areas. We captured a video of this a week ago. I'll try to post it, but struggled the last time - it's very time consuming to upload. (try one and two and three has failed...come again another day, maybe it'll work)

I guess the great debate comes to who is going to write our Christmas letter. Does this count?! Christmas is 2 weeks away! That freaks me out a bit, but at least we don't have to join in the holiday lines at stores as we purchased our Christmas present already. So this whole letter thing...we have received numerous cards, letters, and pictures from people - all so nicely put together, and not too long (that's important!) How do we capture this year on a sheet of paper?! Last year at this time we were considering adoption but very few people knew about this venture and we hadn't even contacted the agency. Now we have the most fantastic baby boy ever. He's truly a joy and we love watching him, helping him develop, reading to him, giving him baths (which could be the most favorite part of his every other day routine), and basically just loving on him. Jacob declares... he is NOT writing the Christmas letter! I guess we better rock, paper, scissors it.

I have spent a long time trying to upload that video. It seems to be a problem on bloggers end, I don't feel like calling the tech support and having them explain how to fix it, so for now, I'm posting and going to finish my work for the evening.

A lot of things!

Greetings friends and family,

Tonight is apparently my (Nate) night to blog. We have a lot of stuff to talk about. But mostly, people want to just see pictures of Jacob...understandably so. So why wait...here is a series of pictures with a brief synopsis about our events of the second half of November:

Thanksgiving Day: We went to my parents house in Middleburg for Thanksgiving over lunch, and then it turned into Christmas by evening. We enjoyed eating turkey and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and pie and corn and other stuff. It was a lot of food, and we enjoyed it immensly. Unfortunately, Jacob was quite upset about the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day "performance" just like I was. We celebrated Christmas with all of my siblings and siblings-in-law with presents and supper and a rousing tournament of Scrabble being played at two different tables.

Friday: We made a family memory Friday morning when for the first time we cut down a Christmas tree. We went to Orange City to the Pine Creek Tree Farm. It was a beautiful fall day to do this activity. Jacob tolerated this activity. He rode in the stroller on the BOUNCY uneven ground and enjoyed riding on the trailer following a tractor. Especially memorable on this trip was the pickup truck we borrowed failing to start before we left the farm. Even more memorable was the accident that happened on the way home. A beautiful 7 ft. tall pine flew out of the back of the truck and sadly laid on Hwy 60 just north of Hospers. We had to rescue it and then decorated it today. Here is us with our tree and of course we couldn't have done it without our little little lumberjack boy!

Sunday: Today was a memorable day. We celebrated a day of family today. Jacob Ethan Breen was baptized today at our church. My dad officiated the worship service and my sister Sarah sang beautifully. Following the service we celebrated with family and friends at Pizza Ranch in Sheldon where we enjoyed having space and a good meal there. We were blessed to have many of our best friends and family come to witness this occasion with us. Jacob was VERY well behaved during church, and even let Aunt Sarah hold him during her musical number. A heartfelt thank you to all who attended and to those of you who helped us. Here are a couple of pictures from the day!

And then these pictures are just because we think that Baby Jacob is very cute! :)

sleeping through the night and other good stuff

So yeah, it's been awhile since I posted last. Life as you guessed it is busy! Everyone is busy! I am so thankful that Jacob is sleeping throught the night (has been for a little while - without waking at all - he had been not eating through the night but would cry and we'd still have to get up). This means we sleep more too, yeay!

Jacob has been a very happy, content little guy. We have been working hard to keep him on the schedule we figured out. This helps him sleep at night.

Nothing too terribly exciting has been going on really! This is a rather boring post, especially because I don't have pictures to add. (Well, I really do, but just not the time - they are not on the computer yet.) Perhaps over the long weekend.

Blessings on your Thanksgiving!
Nate, Mary Beth, Jacob

change of scenery

I saw on a few friends' blogs they had fancy backgrounds, so I thought I would try one out and be festive. We'll see how I like it - there's TONS of cute backgrounds, perhaps I'll have to change it frequently!



We had conferences last night, so a day off today - much needed! I've had a sore throat, achey ears and body. Today I woke up better than yesterday, so that was positive! Now it's gone to my nose...still with a few of the other symptoms. Trying to pump the vitamin c, wash hands A LOT, and drink plenty of water. My wonderful boys surprised me at school with a vase of roses from each of them, a card, chocolate, and water! Thankfully they didn't come at the beginning of my 1 1/2 hour stretch of straight conferences, they came at a break before I had to prepare for more to come!



We went shopping to Sioux City today (after sleeping in a bit). We're having Nates family Christmas on Thanksgiving night. Today was basically our only day to do the shopping for that event. We have most of that finished.



One of the fun things we did on our shopping trip today was buy items to go in a shoebox that will go to children in other countries who are less fortunate. We have been blessed by so many people during this year, we really felt led to try to bless a young childs life in another country. We don't know where our box will end but we pray the holy spirit will work in the young boys life who receives the box we have put together.

(So I'm not sure when it will say this post was made...I started it on Friday and am finishing it on Saturday night)

Happy National Adoption Day! The path to Jacob's adoption was not always the straight and narrow path that we maybe thought it would. 'Our' vision for how we thought our family would be formed was not God's plan for how He would bring our family together. The difficult times that we went through are certainly not forgotten as they are still very fresh to us. There are still painful times - we'd give anything to go through a pregnancy and have emotions and sickness and uncomfortableness. We do joke about how "I wore my jeans home from the hospital" and how incredible I looked when my baby was 3 days old. Sometimes, we have to look on our bright side of it, and that's sometimes what we need. Yet we have the most incredible baby boy, the Lord knew just the right characteristics and personality to give him. We are not 'lucky' that he is a good baby, we worked at training him and praying for him and God gave him a laid back personality - like his daddy. Adoption is incredible. God had our baby hand picked for us long ago and we praise him for Jacob. I look forward to celebrating these "special" days in his future - his 'gotcha day', and national adoption day/month. We want him to know the impact of adoption and celebrate those moments that other families may not recognize.

By the way, the amount of people that read this is amazing! We have been told by others, oh yeah, do you know 'so and so', they read your blog. We often wonder how you have heard about our story. Thank you to ALL who read my ramblings, check up on how our family is growing and adjusting, pray for us.

these are a few of my favorite things...cherry pepsi and dove chocolates

How is it that some people just know when you need a note of encouragement!? This week had been busy and the change of weather was very dramatic on me and my students! I certainly was looking forward to the weekend. As I was wrapping things up in my classroom at noon I notice a beautiful present on my desk. I am enjoying my cherry pepsi and dove chocolates...THANK YOU! :)

Earlier this week Jacob and I had quite the photo shoot. I put most of them on facebook but decided I should put a few more on the blog to satisfy your need to see the little guy. I have heard from many avid blog readers they don't like it when I don't post pictures! He's such a honey...

In case you can't read it, the picture above says: I vote for a change! (my diapers wet!)

I love to try out the various settings on the camera to see what will happen. The one above is in black and white, the one below I was messing with the colors and this is the 'neutral' setting in the colors option.

By this point, Jacob was pretty much non-expressive. (However, I do think this picture says a lot!)

I'm so glad I took time to play around outside earlier this week. Tonight is certainly a night to be cozy inside. I look forward to cuddling under a blanket and watching a movie and drinking hot chocolate.

I really really like christmas music, I heard a small sample today and got really excited. Is it too early to put up the christmas tree?! I do think so...I love doing it thanksgiving weekend and don't want to take away from the Thanksgiving holiday. Speaking of Christmas trees though....we've thrown around the idea of buying a REAL tree this year. We have not done this before...where do we get such a tree? I feel like I've been told to not buy them at the grocery store (or wherever they sit out side already cut for a long time) If anyone has ANY knowledge or pointers about real trees...let us know!

My husband is phenomenal! I am the most stubborn, sound sleeper I think he knows. I do not hear Jacob in the night. We have cut out Jacob's middle of the night feeding over the last week, but he still fusses or sometimes needs a diaper change. I don't want Nate to always have to get up with him, so I hope that I can try to be a lighter sleeper and respond to Jacobs needs. (Now I know that we need to let him cry it out too, but we know 'the cry' when he really does need attention)

Have an enjoyable weekend!

A beautiful fall day

As I am learning more about my camera, I am making Jacob put up with a lot of picture taking! He's a good sport though. Today was perhaps our last nice day for A LONG time. The temperatures reached into the 70s again today. Despite the wind, it really was gorgeous. I was able to make some piles of leaves - to only be destroyed in the wind tonight, I'm sure.

We cast our votes this morning - at 7am! We were surprised at the amount of people out voting already. It is such a privelege that we have the freedom to elect the leaders of our country. I am quite sick of the ads on tv and the phone calls (my poor baby who is trying to sleep keeps getting interrupted by the phone....ugh....why didn't we get caller id?!) If you call my house tonight, I probably will not answer the phone.

I will be doing one of three things this evening... 1) finish report cards (they are 90% finished!) 2) play the Wii 3) watch a movie. All of these with an occasional check on the election. I will also be heading to bed EARLY! We have been doing a great job of going to bed early, Sunday night we were in bed and asleep before 10! I hope that happens again tonight. I am very sleepy.

Thanks for checking in. Blessings to you and your family!

Hooray for Friday!

Wow, am I glad it's Friday! This was a very long week, I was looking forward to the weekend! Now I have so much to do around the house I'm not going to get it all done. I wish I could buy a maid at the harvest sale tomorrow. (My school has an annual auction - it's tomorrow) I am not complaining, because it only means I have been spending a lot of time with my precious family. Jacob has been a trooper in his stroller - allowing me to get a lot of work done outside. Most of my tulips are planted! I also organized/cleaned the garage! (Most of my strawberries, beans and corn that I worked so hard on this summer spoiled in the garage freezer....:( ) I felt very productive, but once getting inside I don't feel like doing that work!

Trick-or-Treaters were sparse at my door tonight. One trick-or-treater that I was super excited for was my husband! He delivered a delicious pizza and he was tipped with candy - I was glad it was him because I didn't have any cash to tip - my plan was give em lots of candy! Nate also got a bonus Jacob kiss.

So remember last night when I was hoping to be in bed at 10? It was about 10:05 ish that I was officially 'in bed'. Nate came to bed about 10:20 and I was sound asleep! THEN...I proceeded to either sleep through my alarm or decided not to push the switch last night and slept til about a quarter after 7! Chaos this morning! Praise the Lord Nate didn't have to work until 3. Nate so graciously got up with Jacob in the night as well - which only means I am on my own tonight! That's ok with me. Why when you are running late do you drop things 10 times more often then when you are not. From toothpaste to hair clips to keys......at least I did not drop Jacob!

Oh yeah, speaking of Jacob, as promised...this was his costume - he wore it yesterday to daycare. Isn't he so precious?!

Wednesday evening we attended half of Unity's football game. It was chilly that night, so we had Jacob bundled in his hat. Which I searched ALL over for - no one has cute hats small enough for a 2 month old. The one I ended up finding is XS and too big! He'll grow into it though I suppose. Jacob had his 2 mo check-up today. His doctor was dressed as a witch. It was comical watching her with Jacob! Jacob is developing just fine. He is in the 75th percentile for his weight and in the 25th percentile for height. We enjoyed our visit and will go back in 2 months - hopefully we don't have to go in before. Pray for a healthy baby this winter. The daycare had lots of sickness last winter and we pray that will be different this year.

One last photo for my niece Abby, this one's for you!

Tomorrow brings November and 60 degree temperatures. I certainly look forward to more gorgeous days!

In case I don't get to the blog before Tuesday - do your civic duty and VOTE!

N, MB, J

cleaned out gardens = naked looking house (2 months old today)

Wow, what beautiful days we have had today and yesterday and look forward to this weekend. This has meant I (MB) and J have spend a lot of time outside digging up flowers in prep for winter. Leaves are dropping like flies (is that possible!?) I am quite satisfied with the gardens, but tomorrow will spend more time trimming back bushes and hauling this grub away - in the back of our car - this is when we wish we had a truck. And planting some tulip bulbs from Holland. I'm excited to have beautiful tulips this upcoming spring!

I can't believe it's the end of October and I've only brought out the winter coat a few times (mainly for recess duty). Speaking of school...it's the end of the quarter which means LOTS of reports and testing going on. I enjoy the progress monitoring and watching my students develop over the year, but it's A LOT of work to get all of my report cards ready. It's way more than a letter grade, so much goes into a Kindergartener's report card. Then in two weeks we have conferences. (Which also happens to be the night of Katelyn's Fund - a topic which I am [was] super excited to learn about - and am probably going through at times)

We took a picture of Jacob in his 'costume' today. It certainly isn't much of a costume, but why would we spend money on one for a 2 month old? (What we got was $3 - that's a lunch at McDonalds for me, so I can cut one of those out for the week!)

Well, Jacob is getting sleepy and needs more attention than what his baby einstein music gym can give him. Which he THOROUGHLY enjoys - always with big smiles and kicking going on! It's a highlight of his day for sure.

We're hoping to get to sleep by 10 tonight, please, please, please shout my drooping eyelids!

With love,
N, MB, J

fun weekend

We had a very fun weekend. My sister and niece came for a visit. There were many activities throughout the past couple of days that were exciting. We did a little shopping, hit up the pumpkin patch, went to Blue Bunny, carved a pumpkin, baked cookies, played with kitties, loved on baby Jacob and took LOTS of pictures! Here's a sample

Jacob and his new Sunday outfit. He finally outgrew his newborn one!

The pumpkin we carved Saturday night - it's suppose to be Louie - our "fat" cat

Our delicious desserts at Blue Bunny

Jacob in the cart Abby was pulling around the entire time at Pumpkinland

Jacobs first visit to the pumpkin patch
Cousin Abby and Jacob together.

Jacob is completely happy when he wakes up - no matter the time of day! (He certainly did not learn this from his mom!)

Hopefully the wind by you isn't as bad as it has been here today. Wow! I don't remember wind with such force like we've seen today.

On our way home from meeting my brother in Sioux City to handoff Brooke and Abby we saw one of those moments of "remember this, you'll never see it again" moments. A guy on his motorcycle with another passenger - normal, right? As we got closer we thought, what is on the back of his cycle with him?? Sitting right behind the driver was a yellow lab sitting on his hind legs, hugging his master (hanging on for dear life). The dog did not seemed connected to the man (although perhaps he was). The dog also had a ski mask on - a good thing, otherwise his ears would have flown off! What a cold ride today. If I had my camera along, I would have snapped a shot - I didn't. I just have a mental image and hopefully I explained it clear enough.

Blessings on your week ahead,

N, MB, J

Mid October - 7 wks old, daycare, trips, pictures, and generosity

Jacob turns 7 weeks tomorrow. He is growing like crazy and seizes to amaze us every day! He is a PERFECT baby. He has gotten some new toys recently and loves playing with them! One of these includes a baby einstein play gym. (Thank you SCS teachers!) It has lots of bright colors, toys, a mirror, a light up star that plays music. He is absolutely captivated by it. Here is a picture of him enjoying it. It's not the greatest artistically, but he is smiling!

Jacob started daycare this week. He goes three days a week and Grandpa B stays with him at home typically one morning a week. (This week was twice) The picture below was taken after his first day at daycare. Daycare is just a few blocks from our house. This allows Nate to take him on his way to work. This was a good thing, mommy would have had a hard time otherwise. No tears were shed. We both missed him dearly though. The days that he is at daycare, Nate most often picks him up too. I do get the privilege of getting him one day though! The daycare staff seems great so far, mostly 'grandma' type figures who work in the infant room. We are also pleasantly surprised with how flexible the daycare is as well! We don't have to contract hours for the whole year. We go week by week. Looking ahead to the summer, there is a minimal fee for holding his place to re-enroll him in the fall. (I read on another persons blog about their daycare love/hate relationship, I am quite relieved we don't have the strictness of that center!)




We have been learning many things about babies the past 7 weeks. With such a sudden call and still having 'baby books' to read, we are learning as we go. Jacob started sleeping in his crib about 2 weeks ago. I am not a fan of rocking a baby to sleep or swinging a baby to sleep. Every night we lay Jacob in his crib 'awake' and he falls asleep on his own. He sleeps for roughly 5 hours, give or take a 1/2 hour or so. We have learned that Jacob likes his space and not to feel all closed in. We'll wrap him in a blanket - cause it's been cold lately and will only get colder, but the blanket does not stay on for long. This is a picture of how I found him in his crib within 15 minutes of me laying him in his crib about a week ago. He has kicked off his swaddled blanket, spit the pacifier out and has surrendered to sleep.

With the change of seasons or being in daycare, Jacob has picked up a stuffy nose. This makes his breathing a little harder and makes him slightly more fussier. We were prepared for a 'rough' night last night, but he slept 5 1/2 hours before needing attention! The bulb syringe is our next best friend as well as some "Little Noses" saline drops (thanks Breems!). I would have never known about them, and they came in handy last night when we were wondering...what do we do?!

Big day tomorrow! We are headed to Omaha to see Grandma and Papa Lovenburg! They are super excited to see him and we are super excited to seem them too! Hopefully Jacob will be in a good mood despite his slightly under the weather health. We also get to see MB's brothers, their wives and children! It will be a great time.

It was a preschool day at school for me today. My students are phenomenal! I wish I had a tape recorder going to catch all their cute things they say (as long as it doesn't pick up my voice though!) On Fridays the 1st graders and Preschoolers join for devotions and singing. Today it was my turn to lead. The next devotional in my book was on Generosity - a mighty big word to a preschooler, but it started with G - the letter we learned this week, so it fit perfectly. The devotion was about a man and his son who were in a shopping mall near the fountain in the center of the mall. They were sitting on a bench when the dad found a $10 bill on the ground. The dad noticed a man going around to people sitting by the fountain begging for a quarter because the factory he was employed at cut many jobs. The dad realized what a great job he has and how he makes more than $10 in a day. He called the 'beggar' over to him and handed him the money. He said, God gave this to me, to give to you. What has God given you that you can give to someone else?! What a challenge, huh? I believe these opportunities are near us every day if we seek them out. Then, we can also witness to those people.

Jesus told his disciples to GO! How have you gone? Have you gone? What is holding you back? When discussing witnessing in devotions a young girl said, what does witnessing mean? We talked about how it's sharing God with those we know and don't know. Like, if you had a neighbor who doesn't know Jesus, you can talk to them about God and share about how amazing his is. This young girl got a really confused look on her face and said, "But, all of my neighbors know Jesus!" So I tried to explain another situation, but I think it confused her more because her face became quite puzzled looking. Isn't it great that all of her neighbors know Jesus, and that SHE knows that at 4 years old?!

Yes, going to school this week was difficult. But it's moments like these that I will never forget, or last year when a student was trying to write Peanuts and wrote Pen*s! Balancing school and family has become more difficult, but we're trying to stay organized and one week ahead. I have NO school work to do this weekend! All of my work for next week is complete!

Have an excellent weekend!

Nate, Mary Beth, Jacob

Great news!

Just a few hours after I posted yesterday we received an email stating that we had been awarded the grant! We feel completely blessed. Words cannot express how truly grateful we are. So many people have played huge roles in bringing Jacob home - debt free! Every gift, small or large, was so touching. Every step of the way we contemplated applying for an adoption loan. But at each step we said, let's just see if we can get to the next amount needed, and the gifts kept pouring in. We do not have to worry about paying monthly payments to an adoption loan, instead we can focus on raising our son and giving him what he needs. So really, truly, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!

This, that, NEXT WEEK?!

Here's the latest family picture of us. It turned out decent I suppose. It's better than sticking our arm out and taking it ourselves, or setting the camera on the self-timer and allowing it to do the trick.

Here's MB's side of the family minus niece Abby. We do get to see her in two weeks though! We are very excited for them to come visit. Hopefully the weather will be nice because we are planning a trip to a pumpkin patch and perhaps apple orchard!

Okay Okay...so I've been holding out on you. I took these pictures a couple days ago and am JUST now getting them posted! They are TOO cute! I have my fav and Nates is different. Which one do you like better - closed mouth smile or open mouth smile?



Jacob had been saving up his money in his piggy bank that people had been sending him. We helped him make a purchase of a swing this week. My cousin had a swing that he enjoyed while they baby sat him. After returning home we thought that perhaps it would be a good addition. Of course the one we decided on was expensive, but we thought we'd go for it. Miranda (my sister-in-law in Omaha) asked if we ever search Craigslist for stuff on there. (Craigslist is online classified ads basically) Well, I happened to find the swing there for half the price and it was used for only 6 mos. I was super excited, but thought there is no way the people would still have it. I decided to pursue it just in case it was still available. Within 24 hours the swing was in our home!

Of course, Nate was excited to spend less money on it and I had been looking at new digital cameras as I have been frustrated with our very basic point and shoot camera. I wanted something with better zoom and features that I had more control over. So, as I am emailing the gal that had the swing listed he said, "if you can get this swing for half the price I'll let you get that digital camera that you have been wanting." I WAS EXCITED and thought there is no way this swing will still be available and thus didn't think I'd be getting a new camera any time soon.

So now as I have my new dig. I am trying to learn all the fun settings it has. And guess what, before we even left the parking lot where we purchased it Nate was having TONS of fun with it. He was finding signs that he couldn't read, would zoom in on it with the camera, and then would read the sign/license plates to me! (I was in the back seat feeding Jacob)

I'm excited to download the software that came with the camera so I can transfer and edit pictures. Until then, pictures won't be posted. Hopefully I get that all done soon.

HOWEVER, as many of you know, I am going back to teaching on Monday. That means more of my time will be devoted to my job and less to other things - like my camera. Yesterday before I could play with the camera I had to have my lesson plans and newsletter written - yes, I did stick to that too!

Todays agenda: taking paperwork to daycare and getting everything lined up there (it's a good thing I don't have to drop off or pick up Jacob on Monday), eating (hard to come by at times), yard work?? (I have bean plants that need dug up and tulip bulbs planted, my flower gardens are still flourishing so those will stick around for a bit...), we have a Katelyns Fund meeting in Sioux Center tonight as well. Have you or are you considering adoption? You should come to the meeting. It's a great place to gain support, knowledge, build friendships, and learn about various aspects of adoption. Tonights topic is "Race, Culture, and International Adoption". Next month, Nov. 13 the topic is Post Adoption Depression Syndrome. http://www.katelynsfund.org/

Speaking of adoption groups - we are up for review for another grant. We should hear by Oct. 21 if we have received this grant or not from 'Gift of Adoption'. Will you join us in praying for the selection committee for the Lord to guide them in their choosing and that His will be done and that He will be honored through this process? It must be so difficult to have to make those decisions.

I told you the other day that I had a lot to write about! For now, it's lunch time. Jacob is sleeping. He had a bath this morning and is as handsome as ever!! He smells fantastic, his hair is fresh and he's not as gassy as he was yesterday!

Enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather we are having, Praise the Lord for that!

MB, N, J