grateful, thankful and humbled

do you ever wonder why ... sometimes I do.. sometimes I don't.. I am not going to tell you I don't think about why Drew was born with bi-lateral club feet.. and how humbled I feel to be his mom. I often wonder why God would trust us again with a child that is so amazing.. I wonder if I will mess him up ! :O) I wonder why we were chosen to be a family. I wonder why God blesses my family time and time again ... then I feel very grateful, very thankful and I am brought to my knees in awe of the one who knit us in our mothers womb.. who knew us first.

I received a CD of photos of Drew. The first one is dated a few days before Christmas in 2006. We brought Drew home a few days before Christmas in 2008. I am posting him at 3 months old and his club feet. They are precious. They are broken. They are what brought him to us.

Then i am posting a 'today' photo. showing his feet again. The perfect, straight, smelly feet of our son.

God is ... He is .. I am without words to describe the swell in my heart for my son and the God I love. I am without words b/c none can explain the way I feel for the opportunities now available to Drew. I am without words to thank our maker, our healer, our gracious Lord.

I am amazed and full of joy for God giving doctors the expertise in manipulating a limb.. I am grateful to God for it working on Andrew. I am grateful for this little child.

who eats an apple while they are on the eliptacal for 20 minutes? why, my daughter does!

daniel playing ball with daddy.. he has a really good arm!

hhmmm is she missing the ball b/c her eyes are CLOSED! hahahah

look ma.. no cast! Out kicking/geocaching with the family.

out with the family and tabitha geo-caching with a little hiking

give me some love :O)

Drew using Tabitha as a road.. he loves his cars!

Our visit with Tabitha

Tabitha and Drew loving on each other!

sweet little feet

Today, Drew had his last casting removed.

It was painful, as a mother, to watch him so scared.. at times mad but mostly sad and scared. He had this pitiful look on his face that was begging me to save him. I wonder if that is what we look like to our Lord? Do we look that pitiful as we ask Him to save us? Is he sad while we are going through the process and then rejoice when we accept him? Today, it was sad, yet when that last particle of casting came off - i cried for joy. I cried for Drew. I cried at all the possibilities that are afforded to him now. I cried knowing that soon.. very soon he will be running. R.U.N.N.I.N.G!!!!!

Tonight Drew was able to soak in a bubble bath. Not a sink, but a TUB. He played and laughed and squealed with delight. I asked him to kick his feet and he looked down then up at me and smiled his killer smile - then kicked and splashed and for a moment- I am not sure who's smile was bigger!

As of tonight, he will not stand on his feet. i am assuming that they are sensitive and tingly. Plus, he has NO muscle tone on those little chicken legs! He loved having us put lotion on today. And didn't' cry or make a fuss when we put the braces on. He is such a little trooper!

Keep him in your prayers as he adjusts to the braces and not being in casts!

Thank you Lord for working out the cost of the braces, the insurance and the kind lady that agreed to cut off his cast.. for FREE. we are blessed.

PS.. Tabitha is staying with us for a couple days :O) and that is her in the first photo with Drew in our home. Then the bath photos. I will post the "feet" tomorrow. I have to pull them of Tabithas camera

happy anniversary honey

last night (march 9th) we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!! So this post is to my beloved Bob.

Bob, I am so blessed that you chose me for your bride, partner, mom to your children, best friend, confidant, and more..

We are so blessed that we both fell in love with Jesus AFTER we were married and in our late 20s! I am thankful for the leader that you are. You keep our family grounded. You strive to do better so you can provide for us. You amaze me at the growth in your walk with our Lord.

I continue to fall in love with you as I see you with our children. You are an awesome father. You have fun with the kiddos, you lead them and you love them deeply.

You take me for who I am. skinny, fat, or inbetween. Long hair, or short hair.. brown hair or with a little highlight.. bummy clothes or nice clothes or somewhere inbetween... you see me. you see my heart. you love me. the inside of me all the way out. you are my biggest supporter - for what ever i may be concocting at that moment.. you make me laugh. laugh hard.

We have made it through some tough stuff.. endometriois, infertility, pregnancy loss, loss of family members, military moves, military deployments, living away from family, BUT we have had really great stuff too. FOUR CHILDREN, awesome foster kids over the years, 15 years together (including our dating years), NEW LIFE in JESUS, watching our daughter fall in love with our Lord, living in fun places, see the world (okay not the world but something like that LOL), having fun, meeting new christian friends, going to couple bible studies, worshiping God together, and of course ... settlers... geo caching... and watching American idol. (i had to add that for your benefit!! )

bottom line.. I love you. I love who you are. I love who you are becoming. I love you.

forever, Jill

Song of Solomon 1:7

tell me O you, whom my soul loves

third and final casting on Drew

WOOHOO- Drew had his third and last casting put on. I was so BLESSED by our friends Laura and Steve, and also Kimberly and Glen. Laura and her daughter rode up to U of I with Sarah and i (and of course the smiley boy, Drew). Kimberly watched frick and frack.. I mean Daniel and Sophia. A good time was had by all.

Drew currently has a plaster cast on with a fiberglass cast over top. he is H.E.A.V.Y. But he can go very FAST. nothing is stopping him. He is climbing stairs (up and down), crawling faster than anychild I have had and LOVES to 'fall" on my chair. He gets on one arm then swings back and forth then pushes himself off.. to land on his back laughing..

today i found him ( i was preparing lunch) up on his toes, falling forward - b/c of the way his knees are bent - it would make him ROCK. he again, was laughing.

kids are so amazing.. where we, as adults, may say "what! a cast for 6 weeks" - kids just continue to go with the flow and make their own fun!

Daniels video

I uploaded Daniels video. I mightchange one of the songs.. I REALLY want "HOME" by Daughtry but when I downloaded it from itunes (for a buck!) it is "protected" and One Tr*ue media wouldn't allow it to get off my computer onto their system.. so I will work on that..
if I can't then I will put it in Drews video! Sophia's is at the bottom of the page..