Celebrating Our Sweet Boy - February 2012

Giving God Glory
God's Provision - We praise the Lord for continuing to provide for our family with Wes still having a job after the government made some major cuts in the Department of Defense that affected some of Wes' co-workers.  


What's on the Harrisons' Hearts
Gratefulness for God's Gift - Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:4  With Noah turning three this month, we have been reflecting on the precious and priceless gift of our son that the Lord has entrusted to us.  The Lord has especially shown us over the past few years that children are a gift and not a guarantee!  We know that we are to hold loosely to our sweet boy because He ultimately belongs to the Lord and is not ours.  Each day we have with Noah is to be treasured because each day is not a guarantee either.  So, thank you, Lord, for blessing us with 3 wonderful years with our precious Noah Randall Harrison!

Praises & Prayers
Tami - Continued prayers for the Lord to give my dad and other loved ones His perspective and that God would heal Tami, but ultimately that His will would be done.
Paul - We are praying James 1:5 for wisdom for the doctors and Philippians 4:6-7 for God's peace to guard Paul & Amanda's hearts during this time of Paul's health trial.  Paul has a rare condition at the base of his brain called Chiari Malformation Type 1, and he will be having surgery in April.
Our Family - Praise for the Lord giving us wisdom with some key decisions involved with refinancing our home.
Wes - Praise for the Lord growing Wes through his Bible classes.  Continued prayer of 2 Timothy 1:7 for the Lord to continue to give Wes discipline and perseverance in completing the work for his classes and to continue to impact Wes' heart through his studies.  Also, continued prayer for Ephesians 6:10-20 for spiritual protection, boldness, and wisdom for Wes as he seeks to be a witness to his unbelievers at work.
Christina - Praise for the Lord continuing to bless me with grace, strength, and perseverance in completing our adoption paperwork, profile book, and birth family letter.  Prayer of James 1:5 for the Lord to give me wisdom each day in fulfilling His priorities for me.
Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.  Praise for Noah communicating his desires with words and starting to think through decisions more.  Prayer for Noah's "yes to be yes and no to be no" (Matthew 5:37), since he is in a season of changing his mind - sometimes as a result of thinking the decision through and other times intentionally playfully or defiantly changing his mind; prayer of James 1:5 for Wes and me to be able to discern the difference.

Marriage Memories
Day date - Wes and I enjoyed spending time together one afternoon eating smoothies and going a few places around town while Noah spent time with Papa and Nana.  Noah's adventures definitely surpassed ours since he went to Chuck E Cheese for his first time.  Papa and Nana said he had a great time, though the expressions on his face are quite misleading. ;)

Family Fun

Our fam celebrating our sweet boy at Focus on the Family

Mommy & son shoveling & playing in the snow

Valentine's Day

Noah & I made red scrambled eggs, pink pancakes w/ white choc chips, strawberries, & cranberry juice for breakfast for the occasion 

Excited to eat * Stylin' in his shades from Great Papa & Great Tache

Valentines for our valentines :)

We had fun making sugar cookies w/ peppermint sprinkles - Noah especially liked the sprinkles!

Noah News
3 Years Old Check Up Stats
     Weight - 29 lbs.        21%  - this was a big jump from 3-10% last year
     Height - 34 3/4 in.     3%

Cute Communication - asking to "see" everything; favorite word of response = "sometimes," often asking if it is daytime or nighttime, when we get Daddy's voicemail Noah likes to tell Daddy to "call me back soon," talking frequently in longer sentences and asking questions about where people are such as "Where did Daddy go?"

Latest Loves
Playing with friends
Reading - especially the Bible
Pretend play - camping (especially having a campfire & making smores) & cooking
Putting on Daddy's deodorant :)
Favorite book = That's Not My Tractor; 1st book that he has read/memorized
Playing Hide & Seek with us or Sierra
Receiving mail - he really liked getting the mail with us because it was often for him due to his b-day
Birthday cake/cupcakes
Playing instruments
Singing
Playing with Legos
Visiting Daddy at the firestation
Smoothies
Anything chocolate
Frankie & Larry (pillow pet frog & stuffed animal)
Making forts!!!

Fort (of blankets & pillows) in his "Thomas the Train" *Reading the Bible in his fort in his bedroom

Video - Noah "reading" from memory That's Not My Tractor book

Passed out with Frankie & Larry (plus some pillows) - lately he falls asleep perpendicular... cute :)

Noah's Musical Side

Video - "Trust & Obey"

"Trust & obey... only way be happy in Jesus... trust & obey"

Video - Jammin' out on his instrument

Your guess is as good as mine as to what he was singing ;)

Video - "Praise Ye the Lord"

Sorry for the closeup of his boogie... Noah got a kleenex after his performance :)

Bringing Our Baby Home

Encouraging quote on adoption - "Adoption is a special kind of love that is shared not by people who are related by blood, but by people who are related by love."  7th grade girl who was adopted

Where are we at in the adoption process?

The process for adopting an infant in the U.S. involves:

*completing an application & being accepted - 11-22-11

*home study process/training & being approved - WE ARE HERE

*entering the waiting pool - our profile book about our family (which birthmothers look at to choose the parents they want for their child) being shown to birthmothers

*waiting anywhere from approximately 2 weeks to 2 years

*being chosen by a birthmother

*meeting the birthmother and confirming the match

*birth of baby

*bringing baby home with us from the hospital

*2 week legal period in which the birthmother can change her mind

*after 6 months the adoption is legally finalized in court

Praying for our adoption journey

Praises:

*Prayer partners and words of encouragement

*The Lord's financial provision!  

Requests:

*Ephesians 3:21 & 6:18-20 - The Lord to be glorified and the gospel to be shared

*Galatians 5:22-23 - The Lord to begin preparing Noah (and us) for welcoming a little one into our family.  One of the aspects we are praying for is the fruit of the Spirit.

*John 6:44 - The Lord to begin drawing the birthmother (if she does not know Christ) and the baby He has for our family to Himself in salvation

*Matthew 25:19-21 - An ongoing prayer request for us to be wise financial stewards and for the Lord to provide for our adoption as we seek to save, to take advantage of extra income opportunities, to pursue grants, to provide fundraising opportunities, and however else He desires to.  We hope to be adoption debt free by the end of the entire adoption process, but we are holding this desire loosely and know that it may take more time.

*Philippians 4:19-20 - God's perfect timing with our adoption... the adoption tax credit that would immensely help out with our adoption expenses expires at the end of 2012.  We know the Lord will provide either way, whether through a tax credit or other means, and we are thankful to have a game plan for either scenario.

Book on Adoption

This month I read Successful Adoption, which is a wonderful resource about all the aspects of international, domestic, or foster care adoption from making the decision to adopt to adjusting to your child once you have adopted.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is wanting to have a better understanding of adoption, who is considering adoption, or who is in the process of adopting.  Here's the basic description (from Amazon):


Successful Adoption brings a practical and spiritual view of adoption.  Topics include: types of adoption, where to begin, necessary paperwork, finances required - and how to raise them, listing of reputable adoption agencies, building strong bonds with an adopted child, when and how to tell a child she is adopted. The long-term affects of adoption, God's blessing through adoption. Book includes practical checklists, timelines, real life stories, sample documents, phone numbers and web-addresses. Successful Adoption also includes real-life stories from families who have adopted, including: Steven and Mary Beth Chapman, Rita Springer, Dave Thomas, Karen Kingsbury and Donna Van Liere.


Movie on Adoption

This month we enjoyed watching Despicable Me, a cute animated movie about a criminal, Gru, who uses three orphan girls as the means for one of his devious plans.  Gru discovers that their love impacts him in a way that he could never have imagined, and he finds himself changing for the better. (Paraphrased from IMBD)  It is fun to think about the precious life the Lord has for us and how He will use this child to have a powerful impact in our lives just as the three orphans did in Gru's life.

Memorable Moment of the Month

Celebrating Our Sweet Boy's 3rd Birthday

1st breakfast in bed - Noah did well keeping his food on his plate or in his mouth with only a little chocolate milk spill :)

Noah's gifts from us - 1st bike, helmet, & (Wes' favorite) cute... I mean manly... little biking gloves

Cruising with Daddy 

Noah's birthday party at Focus on the Family

Party peeps :)

Front row L-R - Big Jake, Ollie, B-day Boy, Naomi, Caleb

Back row L-R - Dylan, Caleb, & Josh

Birthday boy * Noah's "woo-woo" cupcake cake

 

Marisa & Caleb * Caleb & Noah playing in the canoe

Exploring with "Big Jake"

Jamie, Naomi, & Ollie * Noah & Naomi waving & smiling

Celebrating with a chocolate smoothie - Serious *Sly * Silly

Noah asked for pepperoni pizza for his birthday dinner

Daddy & son Lego fun * Hugs

We visited Daddy at the fire station on Noah's actual birthday * Enjoying another "woo-woo" cupcake

More Memories

Enjoying chocolate milk with Maren at a family birthday dinner

Noah & Naomi tender moments :)

Fun times aka. Wes messing with them :) - Headbands & wild hairdos

Omi, Ollie, & Noah hanging out * Ollie begging Noah for some Cheerios

Noah's 1st "sleepover" - Caleb spent the night

Building an ATV firetruck with Auntie Wendy