Waiting Stitches

It is a blast listening to our children and their imaginations. The boys are at the perfect age for creating all sorts of stories. Anything from Superheroes to pirates, filled backpacks to boxes of tinkertoys, legos to blankets taped under tables; these boys think of just about everything. Yesterday it hit me as I watched my two in action and I remembered how just about a year ago Caleb would say how bored and lonely he was. Although he had this imaginitave side, Mom and Dad just weren't as much fun to intrigue him with this kind of play. Not going to sugar-coat it, raising two boys 8 months apart in age has its advandtages and disadvantages. Just as fast as these two can start having fun, they can also become very upset with eachother and have their moments of frustration, but through both happy and frustrated, I can tell that these two are most definetly brothers. It's what I had imagined and prayed for, to hear siblings laugh, bicker, sing, tease, jump, talk, dance, and...

Time to Celebrate! It is a BIG day in the Schack world as we get to celebrate 6 MONTHS together as a family of four! Can hardly believe it! Time is going by so fast! When I told Tope & Caleb tonight that today was a big milestone, Tope's eyes first became very wide with sparkles, and then he had the cutest smile (although, I think he was realizing that a celebration meant a treat was on the way!...). Although Tope may not understand the significance of this time frame, I do believe he is starting to understand the significance of how his life has been changing. We have been watching Tope grow into his family, his surroundings, and learning how to be more and more himself wherever he goes. With all of this growth has come lots of wonderful times and many frustrating times, for both Tope & our family, but one thing is for sure, we are all very happy and can't imagine this life any different.  During the last couple months, we have seen a hug...

Tope turned 6 in June! It was such a special day that we felt so blessed to share with our little boy.  Inevitebly, I felt the day was so special, that I felt like a mess the whole day because I wanted it to be absolutely perfect. This day needed to represent the five years of birthdays we had missed with him. He was our everything that day. Although I felt like a crazy anxious person, pretty sure he had an incredible day and was enjoying himself fully and thought everything was perfect.  And really it was perfect. OUR son was turning six. A day of celebration, cake, presents, and Family! What could be better?  We are so incredibly blessed to have finally shared in one of Tope's special days, and I can't thank God enough for bringing him home.  Here is to many many more birthdays with our very special Tope! We love you so much! Can't wait to see what year six brings you!

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!!! We had so much to be thankful for in this Easter season. We were all healthy (minus allergies!), we had a warm house over our heads, we had lots of food to eat and to spare, we got to spend time as a family of four, and we got to spend time with Uncle Ethan. But most of all, we are most thankful for this life that we are able to live and share because of Christ's sacrifice, and after all the things that didn't go perfect over the Easter season, I am so very humbled that He gave His life for us so that I could be forgiven in all my faults and missteps as a Mother & Wife. The actual Easter weekend was relaxing. Typically, we would drive either a 6 or 8 hour drive to visit relatives, but this year we decided to hang back and just BE as a family. It was nice to not have to worry about a dog sitter, packing clothes, keeping the boys busy for hours in the car, and eating our own food vs. restarant food for four days. Instead we ate really good ...