Happy Halloween

Good Afternoon Everyone -
I couldn't help but post some cute pictures of IV today! She is 10 months old and so sweet! We love her more and more each and every day! I'm sure all families say that ... but I just do love her so much! So can anyone guess what IV is going to be for Halloween? She's too small to eat candy, but I still think she looks just precious!
Before:


TaDa.......


Little Miss Ladybug!


I don't know if I told you she started walking around last month! Right before she turned 10 months she just started toddling around ... even though she's only 17 pounds!

Here is IV and the proud Mama AJ..... I hope that everyone has a happy and safe Halloween... keep the pictures coming! I love that everyone shares! I enjoyed Owen's and Iliya's so far! They are so cute! Love to all your families! MJ

The Nanny Diaries Post ...

So I'm sure all of you knew that I'd have to see The Nanny Diaries Movie.... I'd read the book when it came out quite a while back. The movie itself was very hard for me to watch. Not because I have a bad situation where I nanny at .. but because I've been in the main characters shoes where you just love the children so much you just wish that it was different than it really is... in other words from my point of view I've always been dreaming of the time when I'd have my own children and I'd be the 'Mommy' - the one that they wanted at night & when they had a boo boo or an owie. I'm trying hard to focus on the positive things in my life, such as family, friends, my weigh loss, exercising, 4 wheeling. I don't have the money to start my adoption and I'm afraid things are just not going to come together for me. Although I wonder in a sense if the reason why I can't afford things right now is because it's not the time for me to start or I'm just not waiting and being patient for God's plan. There are somedays, I just feel overwhelmed by the fact that I'm working two jobs and I'm still not able to save the cash to get through the first part of my adoption - my goal has been to save up enough money to get through submitting my dossier. Right now I only have enough money to get through the homestudy visits. I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has struggled through this point in their adoption journey waiting to have the cash to start is just frustration. I keep thinking that I'm working on myself right now & I'm loosing the excess weight (I'm down 46 lbs. & have only 54lbs. to go) and getting healthy so that I'll be able to be a great mom to my child, so in my own little way I am working on the process. I haven't had much luck w/ searching for a new job that makes more money so that I wouldn't be forced to work two jobs to make ends meet, but I know that I need for that to happen because when I have a child I won't be able to work evenings, nights, and weekends anymore because I'll want & need to be home w/ my child. Something else I've been thinking about is going overseas to Russia to just volunteer in an orphanage. It's just that it would use up the money that I've saved towards my adoption. I've got plenty of vacation time left. I actually have 11 days of vacation left for this year and to volunteer in Russia they are two week stays. It would just seem like while I would be doing well for the children that I'd be helping in the time that I was in Russia I wouldn't be working towards the goal of adopting a child on my own. Which brings me to another thing that happened not to long ago... while I was talking with a family member... (who I'm sure did not mean any harm by the statement) the comment was made that now that I'm losing weight that I'll be able to have children the right way after I get married. The comment hurt my feelings very badly not because I wouldn't want to have bio children if I was married but because even if I get married I would still like to adopt because it has touched my heart and my very soul. So after trying to express that fact .... I was informed that if I could have my own children ... why on earth would you want to go through adoption it's so expensive and time consuming. The person just kept on about the cons of adopting and my heart just felt so sad and weighted down by the fact that I wasn't being supported in wanting something because I felt like it was the right choice for me. Have any of you had similar experiences?
Also I want to say Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of my blog friends who prayed for my sister. After some trying times she is back to herself for the most part and has been doing great! IV is still able to breastfeed and everything has worked out wonderfully. All the prayers worked! Thank you all so much.
I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in so long, things have just been so very busy w/ work and the fall season. I've been spending as much time as I can w/ my family and also working as much as I can w/ the christmas season coming up soon! I enjoy all of your blogs and thanks so much for sharing your journeys and lives w/ me. - MandyJo

Prayers for my sister...

Good Morning Everyone ....
I hate to start the morning out w/ bad news - but I need help with a prayer request for my sister. On Saturday night I was coming back from 4 wheeling and I'd had a rough evening anyway - my friend's trailer blew two tires on the way home from Nemadji forest so it took us 4+ hours to get home on Saturday night. We were all of about 15 minutes from home and I got a call from my brother in law EV that my sister AJ needed to be taken to the ER and could I come and get IV. Well you know me...we got there as quickly as I could and my sister couldn't walk her back pain was so bad and EV had put her into the truck and they were just waiting for me to get IV. So I scooped up IV and put her into the car seat and into my truck and took her home as EV took my sister to the ER. AJ has some kind of pulled muscle or nerve in her back and she is on pain meds and can't walk very well. The kicker of all this is she isn't suppose to lift any kind of weight for atleast a week. Which wouldn't be a problem if she didn't have a baby. So I kept IV overnight and then all the next day till about 5 p.m. I'm just asking for prayers not only for my sister to get better but so that she can stop taking the pain meds so that she'll be able to keep nursing IV. IV is a breastfed baby and so healthy and I would hate for my sister to have to give up this bonding early - because of her back. AJ has not had back problems before so I'm hoping that it will get better. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers. MandyJo

Oh and I couldn't remember if I'd posted a picture of AJ and I so here is one from a week ago Saturday night. We went out downtown dancing. We had so much fun. My sister is my best friend and I depend on her so much. I just love her and want her to get better more than anything! Love to you all and your families.

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

ONCE THERE WERE TWO WOMEN WHO NEVER KNEW EACH OTHER;
ONE YOU DO NOT REMEMBER, THE OTHER YOU CALL MOTHER.
ONE GAVE YOU A NATIONALITY, THE OTHER GAVE YOU A NAME.
ONE GAVE YOU THE SEED OF TALENT, THE OTHER GAVE YOU AIM

TWO DIFFERENT LIVES SHAPED TO MAKE YOURS ONE.
ONE BECAME YOUR GUIDING STAR, THE OTHER BECAME YOUR SUN.
ONE GAVE YOU EMOTIONS, THE OTHER CALMED YOUR FEARS.
ONE SAW YOUR FIRST SWEET SMILE, THE OTHER DRIED YOUR TEARS.

THE FIRST GAVE YOU LIFE AND THE OTHER TAUGHT YOU HOW TO LIVE IN IT.
THE FIRST GAVE YOU A NEED FOR LOVE AND THE SECOND WAS THERE TO GIVE IT.
ONE GAVE YOU UP; IT WAS ALL SHE COULD DO.
THE OTHER PRAYED FOR A CHILD, AND GOD LED HER STRAIGHT TO YOU.

AND NOW YOU ASK ME THROUGH YOUR TEARS,THE AGE OLD QUESTION THROUGH THE YEARS,
HEREDITY OR ENVIRONMENT, WHICH ARE YOU A PRODUCT OF?
NEITHER MY DARLING, NEITHER. JUST TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF LOVE!

I found this poem on alohababymooreblogspot.com & it was too precious not to share, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did! - MJ