It's a Golden Life

Paxton, you are officially 2 1/2 years old! I haven't done an update on you since you were18 months old!  You are: • 29.8 lbs • 35 inches tall •size 2T top, 3T bottoms (you've got some junk in your trunk) •size 7ish-8 shoe •an eating machine. Not picky-would still eat babyfood if I let you!  •a great sleeper! (Yay!)  You love: •playing outside •anything dirty  •all animals (but you're scared of spiders and scary bugs) •climbing, running, jumping  •exploring (especially places you aren't supposed to be) Favorite foods: •cheeseburgers (berker) •mcdonalds nuggets •veggie straws •any fruit (especially fruit pouches) You are lactose intolerant! We buy you special yogurt and milk. Since we figured this out-your belly doesn't hurt like it used to! You talk a mile a minute. It must be that you're the third child. No more diapers for you! You asked to wear unerwear (underwear) one day in March and haven't looked back since. You drive the power wheel and steer like a ...

In the history of my blogging adventure of trying to keep tabs on our journey through life, I have not gone 10ish months without taking the time to jot down the eb and flow of the Golden clan.  It seems as though when I thought our life couldn't get busier-it did! And I lost track of a lot. I can't count how many times I have lost track of the last day I took a shower was. Or ate breakfast. Or got dressed for the day (that wasn't for church). Or hung out with a friend solo. Through the chaos of the various events and activities that have been our companions this year, I have lost track of a lot.  I caught myself saying "I feel like I am just making it through the day" way too often. Being a wife, a mom, a student, a referee, a friend, a care taker...so here we are. We are entering a new season of life. We still have three small children, but they are getting older and more independent by the day. We still have a lot of responsibilities to juggle. We are still tryi...

I'm not sure how its possible, but our littlest man is 18 months old (as of yesterday May 21).  •weighs: 24 lbs, height: 30.5 in. (Short and round) •size 5 shoe, 12-18 month clothes, some 18-24 shirts •loves cars, trucks, dirt, books, food, the bath •sleeps 12-13 hours at night, still takes 2 naps during the day. (Trying to move to just one, but the kid loves to sleep!)  •finally has in all four molars! Those were terrible.  •says: this, that, peese (please), cheese, uh oh, mama, dada, chi chi, a version of Haly that I cannot pronounce, hiii, awwwkward (thanks to his sister and brother),  signs for more, I'm sure there are others that I cannot think of right now.  •we are working on: manners. Big time. He is quite passionate about the things he wants to do or when he wants to eat. Patience. I am constantly reminding him to wait patiently. Hitting. He discovered hitting. Just for fun. He gets a time out and a stern talkin to. If we say "nice mama" (or who ever he...

Why?? There are many who have asked, Why adopt when you have three children of your own ? Or- Why adopt when you are able to have more children ? The manner of which we are adding another child to our family chose us . While D and I had our ideas about our family, God's plan (as always) is much greater than ours. We had talked about adoption before we were married, and decided it was something we would want to do. That concept was still far off until February, when we were both brought to the conclusion that now is the time.  What began as our own apprehensive pursuit caught fire as Jesus impressed on us His heart for adoption . Jesus was adopted by his earthly father, Joseph! (Luke 2:41) God adopted us. As Christians, we are all adopted into the family of God through the death of Jesus on the cross.  He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will in Ephesians 1:5. God is a father to the fatherless. God loves and de...

D preached this past weekend on the Gospel of adoption. While I was away for the weekend and missed it live, I listened to the podcast. I think it was probably a good thing that I wasn't in the audience Sunday. I would have been weeping the entire sermon. I may have been quite the distraction. As we are moving forward in this process, I am learning new depths of emotion. It has only been a month since we embraced the calling to adopt. God has broken me in places I didn't know I needed to be broken. I have searched out stories and documentaries on adoption. The facts I am learning are heart breaking. My eyes are opened to a whole world I ignored. I had known orphanages existed, that is true, but did not know the details. I was fine until I started learning the details. Adoption has drastically decreased in the past 5 years due to new laws and implementing new systems. While the aim of this process is to protect the children, it is harming them in the fact that they are stuck...

"Even in our own hearts, we see the influence of sin. We are in a battle, and we feel it every day. No matter how badly we want to honor God, sin screams at us from all sides, begging us to rebel against God and pursue our own desires. We struggle with temptations, and we have a hard time making sense of the things we see happening around us. Every one of us has had a profound sense that the world is not now as it was intended to be" This passage from the book I am reading for community group study, (Multiply by: Francis Chan), hit hard today. As I am in a very busy season of life, sometimes I sulk and just say, "I just want to do what I want to do, when I want to do it." I just want to fulfill a sudden desire in my heart to go to Target and get Chevron printed crib sheets. It is difficult and takes a lot of self control and discipline to keep pressing towards the mark. My children-They will not stay 1, 3, & 5. They grow by the day and are developing into li...

Parenting is a journey. I would bet money on the fact that you could not find one person who will tell you that they had or even have it all figured out. Even those who strongly believed that their children "would not act/be this way or that". Each child is their own person. They are born with their own personality. Even though my children are siblings, they have completely different dispositions and brain make up. While some children are more prone to obey/listen well/be laid back, there are other children that will be quirky/ energetic/ require more directive guidance. I used to think my children would all be pretty much the same child, just in boy or girl form. Ya know what? They are all completely different. It honestly took me until my third kiddo to grasp that concept. While I have a more laid back child as the firstborn, the second time around was not the case. I have an energetic, sassy, spunky, needs re-direction often, receives the majority of the spankings, sw...