Bob Marley and an Apple of Love!!

Isaac, much to his father's dismay, is a momma's boy!! And he is soooo in that stage right now of always competing with his dad. Jerod had brought me home a candy apple one day just because. It is one of my favorite treats and when ever we go to a fair or amusement park I always have to get it, but am usually limited to enjoying them only then. So he thought it'd bring a smile to my face...and it did....if he got me one. So the very next morning Isaac woke me up and said that he had made me a candy apple all by himself. He was sooo excited and dragged me out of bad to show me the candy apple that he had made, and he was going on and on about all the special treats he put on it. Below is the result of hos creation. It truly warmed my heart! When I asked him what made him want to do that his reply was, "Well daddy got you a candy apple and it made you smile, so I wanted to make you an extra special one so you could smile even bigger!" Such a sweet boy!! In Brasil we call candy apples, 'Maca do amor' which means apple of love...which I think is a much more appropriate name for the one that Isaac made me!

So Naomi is our accesories girl...although Jojo isn't that far behind her. She is also our unique, artsy type child. She comes up with the most random of things to do, it keeps us all on our toes and laughing!! On this day she found this winter hat somewhere...she is also the best finder around this house...no one can ever find a working pen except for her!! She put it on all by herself and kept it on literally all day...until bed time. I of course couldn't help but take a couple pictures of her!! And somebody, I think it was Wagner, mentioned how she looked like Bob Marley!!

Bringing out the Rasta in her!!

I so love this smile!!

Such a cute girl!!

Just priceless!!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears,...Oh my!

Some of the decorations that helped turn our home into the Outback!

The birthday boy with all his great gifts!

Pinata time!!

Us singing happy birthday! (Don't miss Naomi on the right hand side there! Guess we must've been off-key!)

These kids are nuts!!

And this alligator was running around the basement!!

Isaac, Outback Ray, and Spongebob!

Now this is more of what I can handle!! A cute bunny!

Needless to say snakes were very popular with the kids!!

Isaac with a chinchilla on his head!

And a snake!

Here he is petting a possum

Here Outback Ray was going on and on about how this lizard had some sharp teeth and a strong bite. As you can see, it didn't phase Isaac at all as he anxiously awaited to hold it!!

Isaac and his friends anxiously awaiting the start of the animal show

Isaac, mommy, and daddy! And some of the nice decor we put up for his Down Under birthday bash!

I still can't believe it's been 5 years!! It has gone by soooo fast!

We tried REALLY hard to get a good picture of the 6 of us...but to no avail. Inevitably someone was always blinking, not looking, etc. This was the best from about 20 shots!!

Sweet Jojo giving big brother her birthday gift!!

These are the homemade cupcakes that I made for the occasion...I was pretty proud of how they came out!

Ok, so not quite lions, tigers, and bears, but we did have a mini-zoo going on at our house a few weeks back! It was a big deal around here, celebrating five years with the best Isaac we know!! God blessed us with this great little boy, and changed our lives for the best forever! I have always loved kids and looked forward to having my own, and in spite of all the babysitting I did, nothing could've prepared me for my own. It;s amazing all the emotions go into having a child. Love like never before, anxiety, joy, frustration, fears, and so many more!! I am also grateful to the Lord for the partner he gave me for this journey. My hubby is a wonderful dad and dedicated to raise our children for the Lord along with me. And without the third piece of our parenting puzzle I think we'd both be paralyzed by how overwhelming a task this would really be if it rested fully on our shoulders. But I am grateful that God first and foremost is in charge of caring for my children, He knows them and loves them far more than I ever could, and in a perfect manner that I never could. If this was all Isaac would ever know about us as his parents I'd like for him to know first and foremost how much of a perfect gift from above he is to us. That he brought us overwhelming love and joy!! That we as his parents aren't perfect, but earnestly seek God to enable us to parent him in the best possible way. And that no matter what, we love him unconditionally, today and forever!!He is our first little one, the start of a great family, and we are blessed to have been chosen to be his parents. He brings us many smile and laughter with his silliness, and lots of love with all his hugs and kisses. Happy Birthday Isaac!! To celebrate his special day we had Outback Ray pay us a visit...these are all VERY real animals that Isaac is handling!!

More than 5 pictures...and some great friends!!!

Wagner and Elijah!

Ivan and Elijah

Isaac and Elijah

The men of the household!!

An amazing daddy and his baby!

Me and our littlest guy! He is my favorite Elijah!

Doesn't he look like a little man here?!?

Loving that binky!!

And a momma!

Shannon and Elijah!

Melissa and Elijah!

Since we wouldn't let Nana hold him, she joined him!

First, let me share that I am very excited that I finally figured out how to upload more than 5 pictures at a time!! Now that we are past that, here are some more pictures of Elijah's first two weeks at home. He is such a blessed little boy to have some many people who love him so! His brother and sisters can't get enough of him, they all love him so much, and are eager to play with him! Ivan and Wagner are so tender and concerned. And hopefully will show him how to do a hat trick! :) Without many great friends our life wouldn't be as wonderful as it is! Especially during the weeks spent in the hospital and then the recovery coming home. So many of our great friends just jumped in and loved on all of us! Here loving on Elijah for the first time after praying so much for him are Shannon and Melissa.

Brotherly love!

Although Naomi would hog the baby whenever she'd see him, Isaac and Jojo were never far behind!! Always asking about him, and wanting to hug, kiss, and hold him! I love to hear Isaac talk about his 'baby brother', asking if he loves him, what does he like to do, if he will like to play with him when he is older. He also got pretty sad that this is our last baby, unless God intervenes in a major way!! He told me that it couldn't be, that 'we don't have enough babies mommy, I can take care of six kids all by myself!!' He is such a cutie!! Today he was asking us if we can not throw Elijah any birthday parties so that he will always stay as little as he is! He really does love being a big brother. And Jojo, LOVES to kiss him!! She must kiss him at least 50 times a day...no exaggeration!! And she is so tender with him...as tender as a 20 month old can be!!

Catching up on lost time!!

It was my first morning home after being gone for 4 weeks!! I think even though I had been home the whole night before the kids still felt like it wasn't real. Because when they all woke up they didn't even come looking for me or fuss! (Which was nice since I had been up with the baby through the night.) But once I came out of my room it was like they went, "Oh yeah!!! Mommy is home!! They all swarmed me right here in front of our basement door, and wouldn't move an inch. We hung out right here in this spot, just like this for almost an hour...no exaggeration!!

Here was another lesson that God had showed me; My family didn't really need me. God showed me that in my absence He could move in the hearts of others to provide for my family and care for my children, just as good as I probably could, some maybe even better!! But my family wanted me. With my faults and failures, the good days and the bad, I was their mommy and they loved me! And boy did I feel the confirmation of that this very morning. As I saw

three precious children be fully entertained and content in spending an hour doing much of nothing but just being by me!!

She can't get enough of her baby!!

All of them just admiring their little brother!!

Big brother Isaac. Each time he leaves the house, wakes up or goes to bed he looks for Eli to give him a hug and kiss

Naomi hogging him from the others!

She won't let him go!! It's easier to take food from her, and those of you who know her know how hard that is!!

She just loves to lay her cheek on his. So cute!!

Here are a few more pictures of Naomi loving on Eli. She has really amazed us all with how she cares for him. And when I try to take him from her she places this kung-fu grip on him!! It is really quite cute, maybe not for Eli since he is half choking from it poor thing. And Isaac and Jojo love to love on him just as much. As parents it warms our hearts, and is something we want to keep cultivating...that they all grow up being grateful and knowing how blessed they are to have one another in their lives!!