In Case They Ever Wonder

Well, we can hardly wait to hear that Tori and Derek pass court in the morning, so we can start counting down the days until we meet Zoe! In the mean time, we are going to write some letters to our precious girl, both to help the time pass more quickly for us, and so she will have a written record of how much we loved and prayed for her even before we met her! Dear Zoe, Hi sweet girl! This is your Aunt Carrie! I can hardly sleep tonight waiting to hear if we get to start our countdown to meeting you! We are going to write you some letters to help you get to know all the members of our whole big family! I will introduce you to your Uncle Matt (the crazy one), and your cousins Sophie (the ring-leader), Will (the half bull/half boy)and Lillie (the sweetest baby ever). The Rodens are a wild bunch, but we are definitely not boring! Then, you will also meet your Patti-Grams, Tato, and Aunt Hope! And that's just the beginning of your family! Well, I have lots to tell you! Especially ...

Well, in most children's books, Z stands for zipper, zoo, or zebra, but at our house, Z stands for only one thing - our cousin Zoe (well, maybe for zebra too, since zebra has become the unofficial theme for Zoe's, room, clothes and accessories)! Sophie, Will, and Lillie could not be more excited about meeting their cousin, and though we still can't show her pictures online, buckle up, because once we get the go ahead, there will be no shortage of photos of this beautiful girl! We pray for her daily, and Sophie and Will can both find Ethiopia on the map (or at least somewhere near), and even Lillie is learning to find the "zebra" on the map. We are all dreaming about all the adventures we will go on together! Sophie is planning slumber parties, Will is planning on showing Zoe the ropes in preschool, and I've already got a stack of books I can't wait to read her! But for now, we would greatly appreciate your prayers for Tori, Derek and Zoe's adoption ...

If this blog could have "talked" this February without me having the mental energy to form coherent thoughts or the physical strength to type them out, it would have had quite a bit to say. Ironically, the times when my blog is most silent are the very times when there is little silence to be found in our home! In fact, my posting has been pretty light since the new year began. So for those who are counting... Number of blog posts in February (before this one): 1. Number of blog posts so far in 2011: 4. Well, if the blog could have talked on its own, there are a number of things it would have told of: parties, parties, and a couple more parties - celebrations of weddings, birthdays and babies. You name it, we've celebrated it. Number of parties: at least three but up to five, depending on your definition of a party. a seemingly-unending cycle of sickness, hot fevers, coughs, runny noses, and the dreaded ear infections. Not a week has gone by since January 17 when I haven...

All was quiet in our house. Snuggled up with my boy, tucked in between the wall and a bed rail in an old double bed that belonged to his great, great-grandmother, I watched my precious, fierce little man-child moving from drowsy to dreamland, when all of a sudden, the silence was broken. " Stop staring at me!" I don't think he even opened his eyes, but he knew his mama was watching him, and how is a boy to sleep with his mama watching? I already embarrass him with how crazy I am about him. I told him I'd try, and I did... for a minute or two. But really, I couldn't help myself. I let him get a little more to sleep and took another long look. I know that not everyone who sees Will really sees him. I know some people totally miss the wonder of who he is. If you are busy or distracted or disinterested, what's wonder-full about him can be overlooked. With just a glance, you might just see a big kid who loves trains and a good piece of beef. But if you slow down, g...

Baby Mine is song that makes me think of my sweet baby Lillie, so much that we put it on her first birthday cd that we played and gave our guests at her first birthday party. One part in the song rang in my head as we had her one year old check up today and found that this baby of mine is a little bitty thing. From your head to your toes You're not much, goodness knows But you're so precious to me Cute as can be, baby of mine So, at just 17 pounds, 5 ounces, Lillie is definitely the runt of our family, and my goal in this next month is to fatten this baby of mine up a bit. She can keep nursing, but we may add in some formula, and I'll definitely be pushing the whole milk, along with scrambled eggs, full fat yogurt, cheese and almond butter. I've already beaten myself up for not eating or drinking right, not taking my vitamins, being too stressed etc. etc., but at this point, all I can do is make fattening up my little runt my top priority. In better news, her pediatric...

Oh my sweet Lillie-Pie! Today is your first birthday! I just rocked you to sleep after a day of birthday doughnuts, a new play kitchen, play time at Peek-a-Boo Playtown, and a Chuy's rice and beans topped off with a little sopapilla. All this on top of your first party last weekend. And, yes, I've been accused of trying to drag your special day out a bit; in fact, Will told me today, "No more Lillie's birthday! I'm next!" But I am determined that you always know how special you are to me. Maybe, it's a hang up for me because you are my third, but I suspect that first, third, or fifteenth, I would want you to know how loved you are. So, even though you didn't have a huge baby shower or an elaborate sip and see, and your calendar and baby book aren't filled out as well as your siblings, even though you were born in a year that involved lots of changes and instability, you, sweet Lillie, have been treasured . In fact, with all we've been through,...

I was beginning to wonder if I would ever write again. At times when I've been crazy-busy, I've written blog posts in my head, but not actually had the energy to type them out; but in the past month, I haven't even had the energy to write a post in my head. It's been like a flat line in my brain. In less than a month, we've moved out of our house in Atlanta (literally outrunning a snow storm and traveling to Atlanta from Nashville by way of Birmingham to do so - oh, did I mention my mom who travelled with us to help was horribly sick?), moved into a house in Franklin, moved out of the storage unit, had Christmas with Birmingham family, celebrated Tori's birthday, had Christmas Eve services, Christmas, a week of move-in madness, New Year's fun, moved out of the condo and back-to-business! For all the craziness, we had a wonderful Christmas season. Not that I ever want to repeat this one! We missed out on many of our family's normal Christmas traditions, b...