The Beautiful Meantime

Catching Up, Month by Month: November 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 19:20:00 +0000

NOVEMBER 2012

We spent November trying to feel normal again, finding a new rhythm for our new family. It didn't come as easily as I had hoped. There were quite a few tears involved when it came to figuring out how to enjoy my new baby and teach and plan school and clean and cook and so on. Put together sleep deprivation with my perfectionism and my ridiculously unrealistic expectations...well, let's just say that I struggled. A lot. Casey, Braelyn and I all struggled in our own way, with our own stuff. So much had happened in our family, but the world kept on turning. So we worked, and crashed, and burned, and worked some more to catch back up.

But! Every now and then, the Lord in His kindness would stop me and say, "LOOK! Look at what I have done!"

...and what is there to do, but savor such moments and rejoice in the work He has done and praise Him, who does in abundance far more than we ask or think! To Him be the glory forever and ever!

Catching Up, Month by Month: October 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 16:49:00 +0000

OCTOBER 2012. Oh dear.
Well, we just have to dive right in.

Monday, October 1st: It was a normal day, except that I was exceptionally tired and achy. But...I was nearly eight months pregnant so I chalked it up to that and figured I'd feel better the next day.

Tuesday, October 2nd: I did not feel better this day. In fact, I felt much worse and stuck to the couch for most of that day. Thankfully, I had a OB appointment on Wednesday, so I held tight till then. Also, Braelyn went to my mom's on this day because our "babymoon" was supposed to begin on Wednesday...which I was still hoping to go on.

Wednesday, October 3rd: We went to my OB appointment and I told him that I was feeling quite fluish, and even teased a bit that we should go ahead and get baby out so that I could take some medicine. Well, of course he said he could do no such thing, as baby was safe and sound where she was, and I was sent home with instructions to rest. I did go home and did absolutely nothing, but unfortunately it was anything but restful. At this point, I could hardly sleep, due to an excruciating pain in my back (which I thought was muscle pain, it wasn't) and it was becoming difficult to breathe. Babymoon was cancelled.

Thursday, October 4th: Feeling worse and worse each day, we decided that this wasn't a simple respiratory infection, but must be the flu. In my pajamas and bath robe, I went to see our general practitioner. Upon her entrance into the room, I asked her, in a Joking-But-I'm-Not-Joking-Sort-Of-Way, if she would kindly put me in a coma until this was over. Once again, my medical advice was immediately, although compassionately disregarded. I was tested for flu and sure enough, it was positive. My OB didn't feel comfortable giving me Tamiflu, so our only option was to let it run its course.

Friday, October 5th: Around 5am I got out of bed after getting no sleep at all. I was in tears and a bit of a panic because I could hardly breathe and the pain in my back was now unbearable. We called Dr. Z (our GP) and she recommended we go to the ER. My quick shallow breaths and my unusually low blood pressure were cause for concern, so I was admitted to the hospital and spent most of that day in the ER. The doctors discovered that I had developed pneumonia on top of the flu (the pneumonia being the source of my back pain). Despite all this, I was still in pretty good spirits, but I couldn't really believe this was all happening. It was very surreal. I was confident that I was going to fine, but of course, I was worried about Abby.

Saturday, October 6th: This day, things took a dramatic turn for the worst and consequently, where my memory starts to get fuzzy. Long story, short...I was moved to the ICU, intubated and sedated, although I think doctors were being conservative with the sedative because of Abby. Around 2 am that morning I had the first of several episodes. Gasping for breath. Heart rate rising. Panicking. During one of the episodes, I remember working so hard to breathe, and I just wanted more air. I was motioning with my hands, telling the nurse how and when to pump the manual air pump. Somewhere in all of that, I was frantically writing notes to Casey, trying to communicate with him and the nurses that it was so hard to breath, and if they would just leave me alone for one second I would be able calm down and catch my breath. This was obviously not the case...the nurses were doing what needed to be done, but I wasn't thinking clearly at this point. I was so worked up that the nurses had to restrain me. Finally, a doctor came in and said he was going to help me rest. I remember feeling so relieved. Yes! Rest! Please! I was put into a medical-induced coma. As the anesthesiologist (who had obviously skipped the day they taught bedside manner at medical school) walked out of the room, he told Casey he wasn't sure that I was going to make it and walked away.

While my husband's world was falling apart, I slept.

Prayers from all over the world began to go out to our Almighty God.

Later Saturday evening, the doctors could see that I wasn't getting any better. In order to give me the help I needed they had to get the baby out. The decision was made to do an emergency C-section. Abigail Anne Cease was born around 9:30pm. 5lbs 14oz and 18 inches long. Once Abby was born, I was pumped full of medicine for the flu, pneumonia, and blood poisoning.

Sunday, October 7th: Sleep

Monday, October 8th: I met Abby for the first time, although I have no memory of this moment. Mostly...sleep.

Tuesday, October 9th: I started to come back to the world. I held my baby. It was strange because I didn't remember holding her before, but it wasn't like meeting her for the first time either. I never had that moment of, "Oh my goodness!! The baby that I've waited and waited for is here and she's beautiful and perfect, and thank-you, Jesus!" None of that. It's is still so odd to me. After all that, after 5 long years...my baby was born and I didn't celebrate and cry and hold her and laugh and rejoice that my wait was over. I have since then of course, but not in the moment or even in her first few days. I do wish that I had had that memory.

Wednesday, October 10th: I was able to get around a bit more and I saw Braelyn for the first time in a week. She was an instant success at being a big sister.

As Casey and I would walk through the hospital, nurses who were with me when I was very sick, would stop me in complete shock, eyes as big as saucers...they could barely believe that I was alive, let alone walking around and smiling and laughing. One sweet nurse, with tears in her eyes asked if she could hug me. It was a happy day, indeed. It seemed like everyone who knew my story was starting to see that God had done a miracle.

Thursday, October 11th: I was released from the hospital, Casey and I grabbed a little lunch date at Goose's Acre, and I spent the rest of the day with Abby in the nursery. I was finally able to start bonding with my sweet baby.

Friday, October 12th: Our family of four went home.

So that's how October began and how my baby was born and how I was reminded that life is so very fragile. Honestly, this is only a fraction of the story. So much happened that I slept through. I know there were some very dark moments. I know my husband went through hell, and my parents, too. I know that I can never know the half of what they went through and what they did for Abby and me that week. But I know that I am blessed beyond measure to be loved so very much. I know Abby spent her first night with one of my dearest friends by her side, loving on her when I could not. I know friends drove back and forth to the hospital, day after day, to check in, to save me from hospital food, to assist me in some awkward and unpleasant situations. I know gifts and meals and words of encouragement poured in for weeks after Abby's birth. I know while I was in the hospital my friends put together Abby's nursery and cleaned my house and did my laundry and took care of Braelyn. I know people from all over the world, strangers, were praying for our family. I know that I can never say thank-you enough for all that was done for me.

Grace upon Grace upon Grace.

After all that, well, we rested and recovered and enjoyed our new baby. Although, like an INSANE PERSON...I did attempt to get back to homeschooling that next Monday. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?! ;) (I am literally laughing out loud at how ridiculous I am!)

Anyways...some happier pics from the rest of October...

Lots of sleepy smiles.

Sweet sisters!

Some newborn pics by our friend Lori McConnaughie.

This one went on the baby announcement. I was not so great about getting those out. Some people got one and some people who were supposed to get one did not. :/ As was the case with the thank-you notes. #Anoouncement/ThankYouNoteFail #HopeMyFriendsCanForgiveMe!

Oh yeah! And Halloween!

*Casey blogged during the time I was in the hospital to let people know what was going on and to process everything for himself. I think it's safe to say that this was harder on him than anyone. You can read about his experience here.

Casey Cease...Thank you for fighting with me and for me. I love you beyond measure.

Catching Up, Month by Month: September 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:33:00 +0000

The best way I know how to walk through the past year is through pictures. I'm challenging myself to write about one month every day or two, using just a single picture for each month...a picture is worth a thousand words, and all of that. However, I can't make any promises...some months...well, there just aren't enough words to describe all that happened. So off we go...

SEPTEMBER 2012
In September, we were in the thick of our school work, which of course included some classic reading. Charlotte's Web. What a treasure! And what a task it was, reading aloud Chapter 21: The Last Day, when Charlotte tells Wilber she will not be returning with him to the barn, what, with a lump the size of Texas in my throat and my eyes leaking like a sieve! It took me twice as long as it should have to get through that bit, for all the tears and blubbering. My daughter on the other hand, was completely dry-eyed, so of course, I immediately suspected her of being an associate of the evil Lord Voldemort, but she has since proven herself loyal to the side of goodness and beauty. You can imagine our relief! ;)

2nd Grade! First Day of School Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 03:53:00 +0000

Well, it's been one year to the day since I last blogged. So unfortunately, this is the exact same post as my last post 12 months ago, except we have Braelyn's 2nd grade photos to add in. I do apologize for my absence. It has been quite a year for the Cease household and honestly, maybe I just needed a year off...to rest and recover and to be quiet for a while. Most of you already know what the last year has held for us, but nonetheless, I am anxious to "get it down on paper," so to speak, and connect some dots from where I left off in our story. When I wrote that last chapter, I was about 7 months pregnant...and now, a year later...well, meet Abigail Anne! My precious 10 month old ray of sunshine!

So, much more to come about this sweet girl and how she came into the world and the many happy months that have passed since then.

For now...we will proceed with the annual First Day of School Picture Post.
Allow me to reminisce...

First Day of School (St. Paul's Day School)- 2009 (3 Years Old)

First Day of School (Children of The Woodlands) - 2010 (4 Years Old)

First Day of School (Classical Conversations) - 2011 (5 Years Old)

Mom & Daughter First Day of School - 2011

First Day of School (Classical Conversations) - 2012 (6 Years Old)

Mom & Daughter First Day of School - 2012

First Day of School (Classical Conversations) - 2013 (7 Years Old)

Mom & Daughter First Day of School - 2013

So there you have it...Braelyn...a 2nd grader! Who's so big and gorgeous and missing tons of teeth and brilliant and funny and the greatest big sister a mommy could hope for and just a fantastic girl! I know we're going to have a great school year together!

Ahhhhhh! It's good to be back to The Beautiful Meantime!
See ya soon! (For real, this time ;)

It's Tradition!...First Day of School Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 03:28:00 +0000

First Day of School (St. Paul's Day School)- 2009 (3 Years Old):

First Day of School (Children of The Woodlands) - 2010 (4 Years Old):

First Day of School (Classical Conversations) - 2011 (5 Years Old)

Mom & Daughter First Day of School - 2011

First Day of School (Classical Conversations) - 2012 (6 Years Old)

Mom & Daughter First Day of School - 2012

(It was very sunny. :/ )

Technically, Braelyn started school at home last week...just to ease back into our routine.
And I'm so glad we did! To go from our lazy summer schedule to our full and rigorous CC/Homeschool schedule would have given us both a heart attack.

A few pics from our first day of school at home:

Zoo Keeper! I love it!

Hard at work...decorating her Bible Journal. ;)

More on homeschool still to come...hopefully...I mean, don't go holding your breath or anything, but...I'm really gonna try. No promises. Actually, it's probably pretty unlikely, but...we'll see.

Heh. :)
Good Night.

So Long Summer! (just a picture post)

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:52:00 +0000

JUNE:

Braelyn's 6th Birthday Party. Another gymnastics party.

Acts29 Pastors' Retreat in Newport Beach, California.

The lovely Brandi Hyde and me in the back of our 4-passenger bicycle.
A very funny afternoon.
I think, between us and the Hydes, we managed to quote every line of Arrested Development at some point during our trip. So fun!

And our gender reveal party!!!!!!

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!
Abigail Anne Cease...coming this November!

JULY:

Playin' at the beach in Florida. (Casey was speaking at beach camp ;)

Abby and I were also soaking up the sunshine. Well, really me, more than her. ;)

So long summer!

Chapter 5: It's Not the Chapter I Would Have Written

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:08:00 +0000

Well, Aiden was home. Our house was stirring with bottle warming and diaper changing and happy visitors, who by the way, were not allowed to hold him (for the first 2 weeks only Casey, Braelyn and I were allowed to hold him to strengthen bonding with his new family). The Lord had heard our prayers and was blessing us beyond what we could hope or imagine, and so often those moments aren't appreciated until they're gone, but not this one. It was as if time stood still for the Cease family and He gave us eyes to see and hearts to savor the goodness He had done.

Aiden was such a good baby. He would wake up for a feeding or two during the night and and easily drift back to sleep. One of our favorite pastimes was to watch him smile in his sleep. Another image that I treasured in my heart was to see Casey with his son. There's something special about that, isn't there? I loved knowing that this man, who I love and trust and respect was going to be modeling for Aiden day in and day out what it meant to be a man. What a joy it is to have such confidence in the father of your children!

And so it went for those first few days. We were engulfed in celebrating and re-learning and catching up on sleep and all that comes with newborn babies. A long, hard chapter of my life had closed and a new one was beginning. Not that it would be without struggle, but I was just so thankful for a NEW chapter.

The Sunday after we brought Aiden home, our social worker called and asked us to be praying for Tina, as she was feeling regretful of her decision. We, of course had been praying for her already, but assured our social worker that we would diligently continue. I wasn't really sure what to think of this phone call. I can honestly say that I was not upset with Tina at all...as I said before...who could blame her! But I couldn't tell if our social worker really just wanted us to be praying, or if there a warning underneath it all. While New Life had completely prepared us for the adoption to fall through BEFORE papers were signed, nothing was said of it happening AFTER papers were signed.

So there I was again...numb and humbled and terrified...knowing there was nothing to do but watch the Author of my life write this story out. And my spirit was willing to trust...to trust that God was going to do the very best thing, but as the story always goes with us humans...my flesh was weak...and my flesh demanded to have some control over what was happening to my family.

Remember, at this point I was also 8 weeks pregnant and I had (to my delight) been having healthy pregnancy symptoms, like tiredness and nausea and all of that. Well, I woke up on Monday morning (5 days after we brought Aiden home) feeling like my symptoms had lightened up. Panic was welling up. "I AM GOING TO LOSE BOTH OF THESE BABIES!!!!" And as this whole situation just became too emotionally overwhelming, I could not manage a reasonable or rational thought and I went into a full-fledged anxiety attack.

In a desperate attempt to gain some sort of control over the situation...to at least know something for sure...I forced my way into an ultra-sound at my doctor's office. I had to see that heartbeat. Kindly, the ultra-sound tech allowed me to come in, although I could tell she was a little confused as to why, but she saw me nonetheless, and it was there. There heartbeat was there.

Gasp for breath. Tears. Relief.

Ironically, on the way home from the doctor, our social worker called and said that Tina had written letters to both Aiden and us. In her letters she shared her struggle and her grief, but also that she knew that she had made the right decision to place Aiden with us. Our social worker seemed to think that this was a positive step and that we didn't need to worry about Tina taking Aiden back.

Another deep breath. Tears. Some relief...a small amount.

The rest of Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday we carried on...loving our new son, loving seeing Braelyn as a big sister, fighting with her over who got to feed Aiden next...all in good spirits, of course, and praying...praying fervently for Tina and for Aiden and for ourselves.

Wednesday evening, around 5:00, Casey received a call from our social worker. Tina and her family had spoken with an attorney and we were to return Aiden to his birth-mother at 9:00 that night.

What a great sadness filled our home. It was almost tangible. Braelyn and I held Aiden. And we wept as Casey gathered up Aiden's things and the things that Tina had given him. We waited for my mom to drive up from Sugar Land and when she got there we let her hold the boy who was for a moment her grandson. And then Casey and I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life...we returned the boy we loved to his mother.

It was a horrible night. And I'm still not over it. My heart still hurts to think about it. I miss the boy I loved...who will likely never know that I loved him so much....will never know that there is a family in the world who thinks about him and prays for him and longs to know how he is. It's such a strange thought. At the same time however, I am so glad for him and for Tina that they are together. I think she will be a good mother to him, perhaps because she knows what it means to lose him. And she will have family around to help her and I'm sure that he will be well loved.

Obviously, there's more to say here. There has been a lot to learn from all of this, but I'll leave some of that for another chapter, except to say that God redeems and God restores and God heals and writes more beautiful stories for us than we could write for ourselves. He is doing that for Aiden, He is doing that for Tina, and He is doing that for me and my family. As scarred and bruised as I may be from this past year, I walk away with history with the Lord...He took me through a deep and bitter valley, but He was there with me all the while and He carried me through to the other side. He shared Himself with me. I know things about Him now that I may not have known otherwise. I love the Lord....not so much in a The-Bible-Tells-Me-So sort of way, but a We've-Been-Through-Things-Together sort of way. Please don't hear this as me boasting...it's all to do with HIS faithfulness, I assure you. But...I do share this to say...Believers...let us not curse the vallies; in the vallies we build history with the God of the universe and then...what joy there is on the other side.

Thanks, Mom! And...Bringing Back an Old Post

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 03:58:00 +0000

Well folks, this is post is mostly for my mom. She took me birthday shopping today and our objective was some new pillows for the couch. Now that they're fluffed and propped up in their new home I wanted to show her how they turned out, so I'm posting this picture of my updated couch just for her. (If she had a smart phone, I would have just sent her a picture, but she doesn't so...you all get to see. ;)

THANKS, MOM, for the pillows and such a fun day! I just love 'em! Once we get that back wall painted the blue color, I think it'll make the colors really pop. I'm excited!

Also, while I'm here, I thought I'd put a link up to a post I wrote during the 2008 Olympics. Based on comments, it is my most popular post to date. Just a few observations that I made during those Olympics. It's funny to think the same things all over again this go 'round (especially about the male divers! Holy Cow! I really cannot get over how small those suits are!) If time permits, I'll try to add to my list, but in the meantime...here's the link: Olympic Thoughts. If you started reading The Beautiful Meantime after 2008, go have a look...and I'd love to hear your comments and funny thoughts on the Olympics. ;)

K. Gotta Go...Gabby Douglas is rockin' the world's face off!

Chapter 4: Three Became Four

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 05:03:00 +0000

We got the call on a Monday that "Tina", our birth-mom was in labor. This was agony for me. Agony to not be with my child as he was coming into the world. Agony to not be the first to hold him and hear his cry and soothe him with my voice, unfamiliar as it might be. It did not feel right at all. But you have no choice and you know as an adoptive parent it's the first of many things that you will have to let go of. Before you even meet your child, it hits you like a ton of bricks that this CANNOT just be about wanting a baby...it's about the Gospel...laying down your own terms to make a complete stranger a full-fledged member of your family, come what may.

Soon, Aiden was born and as we stayed in communication with our social worker, Tina felt sure that she wanted to go ahead with the adoption. So while she spent her precious 48 hours with her son, we began to make the preparations that we couldn't bring ourselves to do before. We went shopping and we made phone calls and we cleaned house. I will say again, that I was really quite certain that Tina would change her mind during these 48 hours. New Life did a good job of preparing us for that conclusion. Here, God was so very gracious to give us the ability in those 48 hours to prepare physically, but to hold our emotions steady. He gave us that grace and it did not go unnoticed.

Tuesday afternoon, Tina was very kind to let us come see Aiden at the hospital, a courtesy she was not required to extend. Gladly, we accepted, and Casey and I met our son. It was one of the strangest hours of my whole life: I'm looking at my son...although he's not really my son yet...in someone else's hospital room...someone else who endured many painful hours of labor...he's still hers...I want to respect that...but I want to see him as my son, too...I want to bond with him in these precious first hours...I want him to know MY voice...I don't know what to think or feel...this is weird.

And it was so weird. I vividly remember saying that over and over in the car after we left. It was wonderful to hold him and change his little diaper and hear about how he was eating, but it was so very weird. She seemed so happy to see us, and genuinely glad that we were there with her. She assured us one last time that she was not wavering in her decision, despite how much she loved Aiden. With only 24 hours left, we went home and started opening things. We washed onesies and put in the car seat and set up his bed and the rocker in our room. It was really happening. "IT'S REALLY HAPPENING!" I would think to myself. After 4 long, hard years of waiting I was actually going to have a new baby in my home. Finally! Our lives were about to be changed forever.

Wednesday. Adoption day. We heard from our social worker that Tina was having a much harder day, which goes without saying, but she was ready to sign her papers. She wanted what was best for Aiden and she felt that that was with us. Wednesday night, at around 9pm, we met our social worker in the lobby and we held her SIGNED relinquishment papers in our hands. With tears and knotted stomachs we signed our own set of papers and we made the dreadful walk to her hospital room. It was dreadful. This is no happy moment. Tina and her mom were there in tears. She was holding her son, dressed in clothes she had picked out for him. Nothing about this moment feels right. How she didn't order us out of that room that very second, I will never know. She held him until she was ready. She told him again and again how much she loved him and then she gave him to me. How do you muster up the courage to do it?! How do you will your arms to let go? I held him and her together. Everyone was crying and quiet and it was just horrible. There's no other way to describe it. Thankfully, our social worker took over at that point, and lovingly assured Tina that we would be back in touch with her in 6 months, and in the meantime she would receive pictures and updates via email. We said our last goodbyes, I guess...however you do that?...and Casey, Aiden and I were ushered out with the nurse to go over new born baby things. The urge to give Aiden to Casey and run into the bathroom and sob was so unbearably strong. All I wanted was to be alone, but there was no time...the nurse just took us to this little room like we were any other parents and like robots with this stranger baby we followed her.

We walked into the room that was much brighter than the hospital room and the hallway. And I looked at Aiden and I thought to myself, "This is your son now, Stephanie. You've got to pull yourself together and be his mother." And somehow, I did. I wiped away my tears and I held him and listen to instructions and I looked at him...and then it was like I couldn't look away.

A question every adoptive parent struggles with is, "Will I be able to bond with my baby?" If the family has biological children, the question gets a little more complicated with, "Will I be able to bond with my baby like I did with my biological babies?" I suppose the process is different for every parent, but I'll close with my experience, little as it may be. The first night we had Aiden I spent holding him, of course. But I realized I was holding him like I would hold a close friend's baby. Closer and more affectionate than a stranger's baby, but not as freely as I held Braelyn when she was born. I remember so clearly when Braelyn was born that I would put my face to hers and touch our noses together and there wasn't a spot on her face or hands or tummy that I was afraid to kiss. I just did it without thinking. And it hit me that I didn't naturally feel that freedom with Aiden. But I was his mom. And if I was going to bond with this baby I had better dive in and love him without hesitancy or reservation. So I intentionally kissed his little cheek and touched our noses together and showed him the affection that says, "You are mine." And it was over for me. I loved that little boy. I wasn't worried about the bonding anymore. I knew that God's spirit in me was going to make me capable of loving this baby that wasn't my own, AS MY OWN...because that is what HE does with us...His adopted...He makes us His own...come what may.

So our family of 3 was finally 4, with another baby on the way. For the first time in a very long time, I felt a smile start to grow in my soul. Caution and warning still lingered, for sure. But happiness was daring to creep out. It was a sweet time. And I will thank the Lord for it as long as I live.

(Photo by Lori McConnaugie)

Sent Half of My Heart to Kenya Today

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 05:24:00 +0000

A snuggly goodbye.

Braelyn and I, with misty eyes and lumpy throats dropped the Hubs off at airport this afternoon for a 10 day trip to Kenya. In 11 years of marriage, this is the longest we have ever been apart. As much as I hate being half a world away from him, I'm so excited for him to have this opportunity. I know he is going to encounter the Lord there in such a beautiful way. I can't wait to see what God does.

The only bright-ish side of having a husband in another hemisphere is that I might have a little extra time for blogging, as my evenings will be very quiet. I think. Along with some good blog time, I'm hoping to get my rear in gear for the upcoming school year, which surprisingly, I'm really looking forward to. (A hearty thank you is in order here to our Wise and Wonderful God for creating summers, without which all teachers and homeschooling moms would quit. Amen.) So, yes...I am delighted to say that I'm feeling great about homeschooling, great about Classical Conversations, and great about sharing more of our homeschool journey with you very soon. Hopefully, these next 10 days will give me a chance to do some of that.

If you are here at the end of this post and wondering if there was a point to this at all, I'm sorry to say there really wasn't, except that I just wanted to touch base, tell you that chapter 4 is coming soon, and that my hubs is in Nairobi, Kenya for the next 10 days, and to ask you while I'm at it to pray for him and our friends that are there with him.

Now that I am completely embarrassed at having spent this long writing a blog with no point, I'm off to bed.

I love you Casey Cease! And I need you! Obviously!...If you were here you would have stopped me from writing this horrible blog post. Come home soon! My readers are begging you!

Chapter 3: The Waiting Room

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:01:00 +0000

Alrighty, back to business. I realized that I left out an important detail in Chapter 2. This little photo sums it up nicely…

I forgot that on the day we met our birth-mom, she told us the gender of the baby by giving me this sweet bracelet...A BOY! We also learned his name...Aiden. Part of the New Life policy is that the adoptive family use a name that the birth-mom has given her baby. I always assumed that we would probably use it as a middle name, but we liked it so much that we told her we would proudly keep the full name that she gave him.

Anyways, whenever I see this picture I can still feel the shock and craziness of that day...so had to throw that in there.

Moving on...

March 3^rd, I woke up with the knowledge that within the year I could have two new babies, or no babies at all and there really wasn’t anything I could do about any of it. A few days later I went into the doctor’s office to get blood taken to start keeping track of my hormone levels and all of that. The next day, Casey and I went in to get the results and to our great relief my numbers were amazing. In fact…they looked at little too amazing. The last time I was pregnant my HCG level struggled to get over 200. Not good. This time, at only 5 weeks pregnant I was well over 2000! So of course, Casey and I took our first real breath in several days, but something about the way my doctor raised his eyebrows at my tests results made me ask, “What…what is that...that you’re doing with your eyebrows? And he said, “Those are just really, really good numbers.” And I said, “What do you mean? Like, TWINS?!” “Well,” he smirked, “with these numbers it's very possible.”

Oooooooooh Mmmmmmmmy LORD!

So we go home. And we contemplate all the potential combinations of babies that could be blessing our home within the next year. 1? 2? 3?! 0?

Needless to say, I was thanking God that this pregnancy was looking significantly better than any of the previous 4. This one did feel better somehow. At the same time, I told the Lord that I could see He was thoroughly reiterating and reinforcing our roles in this matter and I humbly acknowledged the futility of trying to manage and control the situation. Rather than being in the passenger seat of my life, I just straight up went to the back seat and put my feet up…it looked to be a longer road than first anticipated. And it was freeing. My own life felt like a movie and the next act was a complete mystery, which was kind of exciting. Completely terrifying, but kind of exciting.

So that's where we lived for a while...in a sort of waiting room. Waiting and hoping that my pregnancy kept progressing. Waiting and wondering if it was one baby in there or twins. Waiting and praying and preparing for a precious baby boy to come into our lives at the end of that very month, which proved to be such a complicated task.

I don't know if any other adoptive parents out there felt this way, but I just found this "time of preparation" to be nearly impossible. Prepare my home and my heart for some poor mom to put her baby into my arms through blinding tears and unimaginable pain. How do I do that? Prepare my home and my heart for a baby, when all that may come is a phone call that says "never mind." How do I do that?

We were meeting with our birth-mom pretty much every week until the birth. We had built a great relationship with her. We felt comfortable to be open and honest with her (we did tell her about the pregnancy), and I believe she felt the same about us. I think all of us were looking forward to an on-going relationship after the birth. In one of our meetings we expressed to her that despite our longing to be Aiden's parents, if in the final hour she couldn't go through with it, we would understand and we would love her regardless. I mean, who could blame her? You can't tell a woman before she gives birth to a child what it's like to give birth to a child. There are no adjectives to describe that moment when you see your baby for the first time. So how could I fault her for not knowing what she couldn't possibly know? But sure enough, as the due date approached she seemed more and more resolved to stick to her adoption plan. Despite her confidence, I just couldn't let my guard completely down. I knew that after the birth she had 48 hours with her baby before she could legally sign her relinquishment papers, and after experiencing the hard work of labor and the miracle of childbirth...that just seemed like a good amount of time to reevaluate her decision. So, for me, as the adoptive parent, I was really struggling to simultaneously prepare for a baby to come home with me AND to prepare for this young girl to change her mind. What does that look like? Do you buy baby things? Do you decorate the nursery? How do you talk to your 5 year old about this delicate situation? I found it to be an impossible tension. Besides praying a lot, here's what we did...we decided not to buy anything until the we got the call that she was in labor, and even then we would wait to open things. I resolved not to decorate anything until Aiden was at home with us. And as for talking to Braelyn...we did. We were very honest with her. We talked about how wonderful it was going to be to have a baby brother and all the important jobs she would have as his big sister, but we also told her that his birth-mommy might change her mind and we would just have to trust Jesus that He would do exactly the right thing. It was a little confusing to her, but we talked about it as much as she needed to and answered her questions as honestly as we could. I am thankful that we did; hiding the situation from her would have made the situation so much more complicated and messy...especially considering...well, I guess we haven't gotten to that chapter yet.

Before I close this chapter, I will tell you that at my first ultrasound I was nothing if not relieved to see one...just ONE...perfect little peanut with a perfect little heartbeat. I hadn't seen that since I was pregnant with Braelyn. How I wish I would have grasped the kindness of my God in that moment! I was thankful, of course, but I was still so guarded that regretfully, I was a bit stingy with my thanksgiving. I just didn't know. But really...the Lord is worthy of my whole-hearted praise and thanksgiving even when I don't know how the story is going to go. Oh how I pray that I will remember that lesson the next time "I just don't know."

Who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been His counselor?

Or who has given a gift to Him

that He might be repaid?

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:34-36

Homeschool Room Makeover Reveal

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 04:37:00 +0000

Well...this weekend's homeschool room makeover just about did me in. I am completely and utterly worn out! My pelvis...which isn't quite right when I'm not pregnant, aches significantly worse now that I am pregnant...and after working hard for two days straight...well, I feel like an 80 year old woman and I'm moving around like one too, which is...well, hot is what it is. Anyways, despite the fact that I am now walking with a cane, the good news is that we completed our makeover and I am quite pleased with the result. I am so excited to be doing school in here this year!

Here's the view as you walk in.

(And can I just tell you real quick?...how I would adore a sweet little pink chandelier instead of the fan, but I was given a very exaggerated eye-roll and told that it was impractical. So there's a fan. :/ )

The reading corner again and the left wall.

Here's a view a little to the right as you walk in.

Our little square folding table is not ideal. I'm hoping to do some garage sale shopping and upgrade to a slightly larger rectangular one, but for now it works.

Now...as for my curtain. This is the fabric that will be on the window some day, but as you can see in the photos above...it hasn't made it up yet.

Sad story. As Casey was finishing up the paint this morning, I went straight to work on my curtain. I got it all cut and pinned, ready to be run through the sewing machine, but I as I went to set up my machine I could not find my foot pedal. What in the world?! I ALWAYS put it in my red sewing basket, but it was not there. For the life of me I have no idea where it is. Needless to say, I was so frustrated and had half a mind to light myself and my curtain on fire, but I thought better of it (as I might be accused of overreacting) and resolved to put my little project on hold. So, up went one of Braelyn's old curtains (that quite honestly, I had forgotten about, otherwise I probably would not have considered making my own in the first place - fail). Thankfully, I think the pink polk-a-dot drape will work beautifully for the meantime and my mad hunt for the foot pedal will continue after we get back from Florida. So you see...such a sad story. What's a girl to do but to make due and chalk it up as a lesson in looking through all your crap before you go making something you already have?!

Oh dear. I can see that the day is taking its toll and it's time for me go to bed.

G'Night, all! ;)

Work Day in the Cease House

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Hey folks!
Still here. Last week we were at a camp in Livingston with no Internet, and then I had a 3-day Classical Conversations training I had to attend, and now it's moving time around here! We're switching the homeschool room with what was (loosely) set up as the nursery. We had Braelyn's room and the nursery right together, and then the homeschool room closer to our room, but after thinking about it, I'd rather have the nursery close to our room for those late nights and Braelyn's room and homeschool stuff grouped together. So...lots to work to do this weekend. Both rooms are quite a mess, and since it looks like we are going to be homeschooling for quite some time, I want to set up the room for real. (Last year, it was just kind of thrown together and nothing special.) We spend A LOT of time in there so I want it to be a fun, pleasant place to be. So we're painting and organizing and hanging curtains...well, that it to say, I bought fabric and we will hang curtains if I God miraculously blesses me with more sewing skills than I actually possess and I somehow manage to produce a curtain. ;). Good luck, to me with that! So anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I'm anxious to continue blogging, especially about some more meaningful things, but due to the tasks at hand I'm afraid the more serious blogging must be put on hold a bit longer.

Thankfully, Casey has a camp in Florida Monday through Friday and the fam is tagging along, so while I'm sunbathing on the beaches of Florida I will try to get in the next chapter of our baby/adoption drama and whatever else I feel like chatting about...there's SO much to catch up on!

So, I hope this post finds you well on this Friday morning. I'm off to "help" in the "moving day" activities! (By help, I mean watch Casey do all of the heavy lifting and painting by himself.)
Have a great weekend!
See you in sunny Florida!

Chapter 2: The Meltdown

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 04:57:00 +0000

So, it was 2am and for a good 45 minutes, Casey and I sat staring in disbelief at the two strongest, unmistakable red lines that appeared on my pregnancy test. "Well this cannot be right!" we said. So, what did we do? Took the other 2 tests in the box, of course. And again...with the two red lines. The one thing I most wanted to see in this world for the past 4 1/2 years was now looking back at me...and you know what my first thought was?...Oh my God...this is amazing! You know what my second thought was?..."NO! WAIT! God...why are you doing this to me?! Of all the months I've prayed and prayed before now...NOW IS THE TIME YOU CHOOSE? What in the world?!" I was not happy. I was not thankful. I was mad.

Now, I can just hear you. "But why, Steph?" "This is wonderful news! God answered your prayers! He is pouring out blessing upon blessing," you say. "Why would you be mad, of all things?"

Here's why. Because adoption is scary. Adoption is hard. Nothing is certain. I wanted to give my whole heart to this new baby that may (or may not...should mom change her mind) come into our lives and our family. I wanted to be ready for anything and everything that came with this baby.

But how could I fully focus on all that when there was a whole other baby to think about now? 1000 questions ran through my brain.

How do I have a 7 month old and a new born?

Where do we put 2 new babies? Together? Do we put them in separate rooms?

How do I nurse my biological baby when my my adopted baby is crawling into some dangerous senario that I can't think of right now?

How do I homeschool with 2 new babies?...OH MY GOSH! HOMESCHOOL!

What are we gonna do about school?!?!?!?

And on and on it went, until my brain got to this question...

What if I lose this baby like I've lost the 4 babies before this? And it was one of those moments that just took the wind right out of me. I stopped crying. I stopped panicking. I just froze in a numb terror.

I cannot...I absolutely CAN NOT handle adoption and a miscarriage right now! Why would God put me through that, right now? WHY?

Now, I really try hard not to ask God "why?". Most of the time I feel like I'm pretty clear on our roles and our resumes: "Okay God...well, I graduated from UofH, (thanks for that last football season, btw!) and I made good grades. I taught 1st grade...You know how hard that was, God! We talked a lot about that, so a few points for me there. Been married for 11 years, that's not nothing these days! So, overall, not too shabby. Okay, so You on the other hand, You created the entire universe out of nothing and You parted the Red Sea...that was a big day...oh and, there was the whole Jonah in the whale thing...You're so creative! And also how You gave Your one and only perfect Son to die...okay, okay, for arguments sake, we'll just say that you're probably more qualified to make this decision, so right...we'll go with your idea."

RIGHT?! I mean, come on?! Who am I to question HIM?!

But, I'll tell you. That night, I questioned what He was doing. I questioned why He would put me through so much pain when I was just trying to do the right thing? Why was He testing me SO much? What did he have against me?

Casey and I got to the point where we just couldn't think anymore. Just couldn't cry anymore. So we did the one thing there was left to do...we begged God for help and strength and understanding.

I have never felt so out of control of my own life ever. For maybe the first time, I gave up managing and thinking through answers and solutions and rational steps forward. There was nothing else to do, but to step away from my own life and let God do what He was going to do. He was obviously doing something. So there, out of frustration and exhaustion and stubbornness...I handed over the reigns.

When I woke up the next morning, I was still mad and hurt and confused and so very scared...but I was keenly aware that the Lord was working on something here...with me...with my family...with "my" babies...and all He wanted from me was to sit back and watch Him play it out.

What else was there to do?

Okay...I'm Ready Now (Chapter 1: Our Adoption Story)

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:31:00 +0000

I haven't blogged in a while. I'm sure that all my readers are long gone, but, I'm ready to go back and sift through the last 6 months, if only for myself, and record what has been one of the hardest, strangest, loneliest, most beautiful, seasons of my whole life. I'm ready to write this little chapter down, and begin celebrating, here, online what God is doing in me and in my family.

I wasn't ready before now. My heart was hard. I was hurt. And while I wasn't angry at God, distrust had crept in and I was keeping Him at an ever growing distance. So, I did not want to write in my sorrow and dishonor God, nor did I want to pretend I was resting in the goodness of God when in fact I was toiling in self-preservation and isolation and numbness.

But...I'm ready now. The Creator of all things has been knitting back together the torn pieces of my heart. He has been patient with my grief. He has haunted me with His presence despite my rejection, and as if He wasn't offering me everything already...well, let's just say...He gives joy in excess and I can only imagine that He laughs at my disbelief, as a father laughs at his children on Christmas morning when, with eyes like saucers they behold the great absurdity of their father's generosity. The Lord is getting a good chuckle out of me, I assure you.

I'm gonna post our story in chapter chunks. It's too overwhelming to get it all in one post. So...here we go...

Chapter One: February & March 2, 2012
You may remember that we, like headless chickens, frantically got our adoption stuff in order back in December. (To jog your memory go here.) After the dust settled from all that, January and February were fairly normal (I think), and we were just waiting for our profile to be seen by birth-moms. Well, sure enough, towards the end of February our profile was given to a birth-mom and to our great delight and amazement she chose us to be the parents of her baby. It was crazy! It was happening SO much faster that I imagined it would. Suddenly, this nice idea that had been all theory and rosy expectation was real and had a due date and a mom and a family attached that will hurt because of this decision. And while I couldn't help but feel excited that my prayers were being answered, a healthy dose of fear came with it. Here I got my first real taste of the seriousness of our decision and that my joy would come at someone else's cost.

So March 2, 2012...without a doubt THE SINGLE MOST CRAZY DAY OF MY WHOLE LIFE. Casey and I woke up that morning to some very unfortunate news, which I cannot share here, but it was a big blow on a day that was supposed to be a great one...it was the day we were to meet our birth-mom. After picking our jaws up off the floor at the unfortunate news, we put that momentarily aside, got ready for the day and prepared to meet the girl who would change our lives forever. Around 2pm, with wild, rabid butterflies in our stomachs we went to New Life Adoption Agency and met our birth-mom.

She, we'll call her Tina, was a delightful girl. Very young. Very pretty. Very pregnant. Her family was there with her, which I was happy to see...they were very supportive of her. (After walking through the adoption journey, Lord help the girls who walk that road alone! Seriously. It is unimaginable.) Anyways, our meeting went well. It seemed that Tina felt more confident in choosing us as her baby's adoptive family, and we couldn't help but adopt her into our hearts as well. She was a real person...that matters to God...not just a means to an end. Honestly, I wasn't really prepared to care about her so much, and thus, the emotional tug-of-war that is adoption grew significantly more violent. And there's not just 2 ends on this rope...this rope has an end in every direction. On one end there's the hope and excitement of a new baby. On another the hurt of not being able to enjoy the baby kicks and the ultrasounds and baby showers and all of that. On another end there's the fear of raising a baby that you didn't give birth to and doesn't look like you. On another there's the fear that the birth-mom will change her mind. And on yet another end...not wanting this baby to suffer any hurt over being adopted. I left that meeting, thrilled that it could not have gone better, but also a quite stunned at the difficult journey that the Lord had laid before us. But I believed that Lord had indeed brought us to adoption, to New Life, to Tina...so on we went...in faith.

But it was still March 2, 2012. The day wasn't over yet. We went home from our meeting and told friends and family that it couldn't have gone better and that things were looking good for us to have a new baby at the end of the month. Well, later that evening as Casey and I were on the couch, letting our reality soak in, Casey picked up on some suspicious symptoms...mainly that I was "late". But, I was thinking nothing of it. You see, every month for 4 1/2 years I'm either "late" or there's some other suspicious symptom that leads me to believe that I'm pregnant. And, without fail these "suspicious symptoms" always end up playing me for the fool, as I'm never actually pregnant, and I begin the whole fiasco again the next month. This particular month, I noticed them of course, but I refused to give into the dirty tricks my body plays on me..."I'm moving on! I said...putting all that behind me...focusing on adoption. The end. Well, my resolve weakened and curiosity got the best of us...as it always does, and in the wee hours of the morning, Casey ran to Walmart. He bought a test. I took the test. Positive.

Holy Bologna! (That's not what I said. I said something worse than that, but I'm keeping it clean here at The Beautiful Meantime.) I'm gonna save the emotional meltdown that proceeded this revelation for another post. But, let me just say...it wasn't pretty. There was snot and ugly crying...the kind where Casey says I look like Julia Roberts (which he doesn't mean as a compliment), and there was hyperventilating and panic and then maybe a little she-had-done-lost-her-mind-for-real crazy laughing. And there were multiple rounds of all of that. And at who-knows-what-o'clock I fell asleep.

March 2, 2012. I will never forget that day as long as I live.

My Love Affair with Teen Fiction Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:56:00 +0000

First it was Harry Potter. Then The Twilight Saga. And yes, now I am not ashamed to say that I have followed the herd straight into the Hunger Games. I. LOVE. IT. I just finished book 1 yesterday.

It was a pretty busy weekend. Prepared for a baby shower Friday. Gave a baby shower Saturday and went out with friends that night. Woke up and went to church on Sunday, followed by a C3 luncheon. By the time I got home Sunday afternoon, I was a bit cranky and a lot a bit tired. Without really thinking, I grabbed my book that I was about 170 pages into...and then, well took most of the evening and knocked that baby out. OMG! I could not put it down!

I hadn't seen much about the movie. Just the trailer where all you see is someone running through the woods...you don't even really see her face. Well, I just watched the real trailer...where you see Katniss, Gale, Prim, Peeta and it builds and builds until right when the games begin. GASP! Amazing! I started tearing up cause the excitement is just so overwhelming. Is anyone with me on this, or is this just me? Cause if it's just me, I am TOTALLY kidding. I hate the book really. If it's not just me then I am TOTALLY serious. ;)

I am anxiously waiting to start the next one, but I really need to do some adoption reading first. Casey will be out of town some this week...never a bad time to start a new book. ;) I do have a little premature anxiety that the series is only a trilogy, however. That means I only have 2 more books (that I will, no doubt fly through) with my new friends from Panem. I'm not alone here too, am I? Right, there's others out there preparing themselves for the I-don't-want-my-book-to-be-over grieving process?

Sigh::::

That's it. I'm a nerd. There's no escaping it. I'll probably go to the movie with my hair braided down my back, smeared with mud, dressed in my tunic with my bow and arrow...like the crazies with the Lord of the Rings.

Awesome.

Well, just wanted to connect with my bloggin' buddies a bit. Also...I've gotten a few questions regarding homeschool and Classical Conversations, specifically. So I'm gonna do a post about our journey with all of that ASAP. Try to this week while the hubs is gone. I will probably have to write that before I start Catching Fire or it's likely that that post will go unwritten. :/

Love,

At This Rate I'll Be Reading Board Books By 40

I Forgot To Do This In August...First Day of School Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:49:00 +0000

First Day of School - 2009 (3 Years Old):

First Day of School - 2010 (4 Years Old):

First Day of School - 2011 (5 Years Old)
B's first day of CC. (Classical Conversations is our homeschool group. We do school together every Tuesday.)

Here, we're about to leave for school. I got to be in the-first-day-of-school-picture too cause, well, I go to school right along with her. :)

Sigh:::

Just look how fast she's growing up!

Alright, I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep now.

G'Night.

2011 Book List

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:04:00 +0000

Well, I didn't get to do as much reading as I would have liked, but what do ya do?

Here's what I managed to finish...

* Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
* Praise Her in the Gates - Nancy Wilson (favorite)
* The Fruit of Her Hands - Nancy Wilson

* Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence
* The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
* The Praying Life - Paul Miller (the other favorite)

* Because He Loves Me - Elyse Fitzpatrick

* Real Life Discipleship - Jim Putman

Some Quick Casita Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:59:00 +0000

My favorite room...the kitchen.

Living Room. Not completely finished but, we're getting there.

The floating shelves were my Christmas present. I love them! Especially my little work nook. Can't wait to finish working on this space. For starters, I'm about to paint the "C" a pretty aqua/robin's egg blue color. I'll keep ya posted on our projects.

More pics to come as we get rooms looking more like rooms...and not big blank spaces. But it's gonna take a little time. And money. You know how it is. ;)

My Life is Significantly Different Since the Last Time I Posted

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:04:00 +0000

Well, it's December 31st...last day of 2011...so, I though I'd get one last post in before 2012, because well, A LOT has happened here at the end of the year. Why have I not posted before now?...I've been an absolute crazy woman from October to December 25th, during which I had not a single clear thought and any spare time (there wasn't any, but if there was...) I spent it breathing into a paper sack.

So here's a quickish summary of what we've been up to...

Sometime in September we turned in our initial paper work to New Life Adoption Agency to begin the process of adoption.

Sometime in October we turned in our official application to New Life which included medical history, statement of faith, how we became Christians, why we want to adopt and lots of other essays and papers to fill out.

Then we had to wait over a month to hear if we were accepted as New Life family.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we moved into our house! I had forgotten how much I LOVE LIVING IN A HOUSE!!!!!

Home Sweet Home...my little casita!

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow. The outside looks a little different from when I took this picture and I'll take some pictures of the inside, but I have to clean first! ;)

Okay, so at this point, we were getting moved in, finally feeling at home, but I couldn't relax too much cause Christmas was right around the corner and I hadn't begun any of my shopping or decorating.

Just as the stockings were being hung, we got an email from New Life saying that we had been accepted as a New Life family but we needed to come in for an initial meeting after the New Year to make sure we were all on the same page regarding open adoption. (New Life requires that the families commit to maintain communication with the birth mom with pictures and letters.) Well, as you can imagine, we were tickled to pieces to be that much closer to adopting, and taking the next step in January sounded perfect, because, as I said, Christmas was pounding on my wreathless front door.

About a week later, we got a call from one of the ladies at New Life. She wanted to go ahead and meet with us before the New Year. Well, of course we would meet!...it would be nice to meet face-to-face finally and talk about what January would look like. So we went to the meeting. We confirmed our desire to have an open adoption and everything was going great. And then...just as I was about to wish her a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, she explained to us that she wanted us to get all of our home study completed in December.

After I quit choking, I blinked away my panicked eyes, smiled and said, "Um...Of Course! So you think maybe, that week after Christmas?" Surely she means the week after Christmas!

"No, no,"she says, "I can't that week. How about the week before?"

This time the panic could not be blinked away, and it's possible a mild swear fell out of my mouth, but because we are anxious to adopt our sweet baby and because we don't really know who we are unless things are completely insane, we agreed to complete all of our paperwork, inspections, photographs, video and home visit the Thursday before Christmas.

So...two weeks before Christmas:

- we had to finish MOVING IN!

- get ready for Christmas and Christmas events that I had already planned

- and complete a 26 item checklist of things to do before our home study on the 22nd

Long story short (too late)...we did it! I mean...there were lots of tears, some spells with irritable bowel syndrom, and I consumed about 15 gallons of Starbucks Iced Black tea, but we did it! We got the house ready, the nursery (sort of) set up, Christmas presents under the tree, dinner parties hosted and attended and every item on our adoption checklist done...minus our infant CPR and reading requirements.

We finished our home study Thursday.

Had a Christmas Eve Eve Service on Friday.

Went to Sugar Land to be with my family on Christmas Eve.

Spent Christmas Day with Casey's family.

Came home on Monday.

Been pretty much a recluse ever since. Seriously. I've slept a lot. Cleaned a lot. Cooked a lot (which didn't really happen the other 3 weeks of December). Played Wii a lot. Vegged a lot.

Lord, how I needed it. In fact, we may make that a Cease family tradition...to spend the week between Christmas and New Years at home...resting and recovering and rejuvenating, preparing for the next year. Now, I feel ready for 2012 and the idea of going out into the world and seeing other people doesn't make me want to cry.

So there you have it, friends. We moved from our apartment to our beautiful new house and we could be adopting any time now. Or it could be a year from now. Who knows? We're back to waiting. But, I will say, even though those two weeks were some of the craziest weeks of my life, I am so thankful that the Lord has moved us through the process so quickly. Our part is (mostly) done. Now it's just up to Him to bring our profile to the the right birth mom. Then this family of three will finally be four! I can't wait!

Happy New Year everyone!

(And by everyone I mean, mom...since you're probably the only one still checking my blog. ;)

Braelyn is Blogging Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:28:00 +0000

I have much to report on regarding our new adventures in homeschooling. Unfortunately, today is not the day for that. BUT! I do want to send you over to Braelyn's Blog! It's been quite a while since she has posted, but hopefully you'll start to see her work a little more regularly.

For the last three weeks we have been reading teddy bear stories in our read-aloud time, and to close out the unit Braelyn has written a delightful teddy bear story of her own. She has also picked out 3 of her favorite titles from the teddy bear books that we read.

Enjoy! And...I'm sure she'd appreciate your feedback. ;)

braelynnicole.blogspot.com

Meet Amelia

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:35:00 +0000

Allow me to explain our dog situation. When we moved out of our house in Brenham, we felt it necessary to find a new home for our pug, Tucker. We were moving to an apartment and our lives were just so crazy we didn't think that having a dog in the mix was the best idea. So we did. We found a lovely new home for Tuck.

Of course, Braelyn was a bit heartbroken over this, and from the day we moved into our apartment in the Woodlands, she asked us for a dog everyday. Literally everyday. I'm not kidding. Despite the desperation on her face, Casey and I, being hard as nails refused her request time and again. Okay...we refused her request...until we moved into a house. :|

Casey and I were committed to keeping our promise to her, but not-so-secretly we found being petless rather freeing and enjoyable. But, my sweet girl has no siblings and she talked of her future dog everyday, so there was no going back on our promise?! It was imminent...a dog was coming.

Well, I haven't mentioned this yet, but we are building a house! Yes, some preliminary papers have been signed and we have picked out cabinets and countertops and tiles and all those fun things and soon we will be happy homeowners once more. (More on this later.)

So, the craziest thing...heh...Well, the Monday after we got back from New York, Casey checked his Facebook wall or board or whatever it is and saw that some friends of ours in Sugar Land had just rescued a little puppy from a storm drain. They were not able to keep the dog, but wanted to find a good home for it. Casey, obviously against his better judgement showed the picture of the puppy to Braelyn, and to me. This was a mistake...because we still had 6 months to go in the apartment, and everyone knows that once you look at a dog picture, especially a dog rescued from great peril...you're done for.

Sure enough, because we are dumb and don't know good sense if it hit us in the face, we drove down to Sugar Land and picked up Amelia.

Just wook at that wittle girl!

A very happy day for Braelyn!

Here's cruisin' Amelia.

"What? I'm comfortable!"

sweet, snuggling Amelia

stretching Amelia

"A proper stretch goes from your tail to your tongue!"

upside down Amelia

in bed Amelia

(No, she doesn't sleep in our bed, but every night she curls up with me for a few minutes before lights out. We love it!...Amelia and I do. Not sure how Casey feels about it.)

good girl Amelia.

Not gonna lie. I'm a bit head over heals for this little lady, who is a chihuahua-miniature pincher mix...a "chipin," if you will. Yes, so I used to kinda roll my eyes at people who were so crazy about their dogs and had clothes for them and strollers and took them everywhere. Well, I'm rolling my eyes at my own self lately! I can't help it! Wook at her ears!

New York: Days 3 & 4

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Day 3: The day I nearly pushed my family to the breaking point. :\

The Statue of Liberty

Before Casey and I went to bed on day 2, we very wisely bought our Liberty Island tickets online. When we got there, we walked passed hundreds of people to get on the ferry. It was a victorious moment.

Here we are on Liberty Island.

And there she is! Gorgeous!

It was very sunny. I'm not sure if the hubs meant to stick his pinkie out like that, but that's all I can see in this picture.

After we spent a little time with Lady Liberty, we decided to get back on the ferry, pass by Ellis Island and head to lunch, as we were getting quite hungry. Now, while the handy online tickets were brilliant in getting ON Liberty Island they proved to be of no value WHATSOEVER in getting OFF Liberty Island. We waited in line for well over an hour, in the sun, herded in like cattle before boarding the ferry back to Battery Park. It. was. brutal.

A Brooklyn Excursion

Once we were back in Manhattan, we were a little grumpy and a lot hungry. We grabbed a Starbucks (the daily venti black tea) for the train and headed to Brooklyn to try a little restaurant that my dad just raves about, Pete's Downtown.

Well, after about 45 minutes of jumping from one wrong train to the next and a bit of a walk after the right train, we made it to Pete's. Thankfully, I mean really...Thank the Lord!...it was delicious!

Meatball sliders.

And of course, we had to grab some ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory right on the waterfront with a perfect view of the Brooklyn Bridge. It turned out to be such a lovely excursion. All grumpiness was lost in gluttonous amounts of heavy Italian food and coffee ice cream. Which was good, cause there was still much more on the agenda.

The Empire State Building

By the time we got back into Manhattan, it was early evening and the plan was to go to the Empire State Building. Now, I thought I was being kind of clever...to go to the top at night...surely the heavy tourist hours are during the day, right? So we take a nice little walk from our hotel to the Empire State Building, but not without a brief stop into Macy's and H&M. :)

When we get to the ESB there is a CA-RAZY line out the door. Apparently, I'm not as clever as I thought. Casey immediately wants to pull the plug on the ESB. But me, being the Go-Big-or-Go-Home traveller that I am, thought the line was moving pretty fast and surely it wouldn't be that bad. So we get in line. We get inside and I think, "Man, we are gonna be up there in no time! Good thing we didn't abort the mission!" Then we get to the first snake-line room...a giant room with a snake-line from end to end. At this point, I know my family's tired, so I give in and offer to abandon the ESB adventure. But Braelyn wanted to go to the top and and so did I, so we decided we were in it for the long haul. No turning back. Casey was less than enthusiastic.

5 or 6 or 20 HUGE snake-line rooms, 2 hours and 1 unhappy husband later, we made it to the top.

Happy Braelyn. Happy Steph. Casey.

It was awesome to be up there, for sure. But it was nothing like the movies. Even if Debra Kerr had made it to the top of the ESB to meet Cary Grant, she never would have found him in that crazy crowd anyways!

In the end...I'm glad we did it.

All of that was Day 3.

(In case you were wondering about how Braelyn fared through all of that...she was as delightful as ever! I couldn't believe what a trooper she was!)

Day 4:

A much lighter day by far, as was the plan. This day we took leisurely walks around the quainter, less touristy parts of Manhattan.

The West Village

First of all, let me just say, the whole area is so charming. Would love to go back and just spend a few days strolling around the West Village. One little treasure I found here, and one of my favorite spots from the whole trip was Buvette. My oh my! The loveliest little French cafe! (Go to the website...ilovebuvette.com, my pictures do not begin to show how wonderful this place is!)

(Notice the uh, VBT? Venti Black Tea? How do you think I kept up the energy to be the travel nazi that I was? The VBT!))

Crepes! And, btw...that little water glass is called a buvette.

French baguette with olive oil, fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, arugula! This is the food I love!

The East Village

After a leisurely afternoon in the West Village we took a cab to the East Village to the legendary McSorely's...the oldest pub in NY. It was a pretty great place I have to say, albeit a far leap from Buvette's. It's community seating and things are about as simple as you can get at McSorely's. A 3 item chalkboard menu, a 2 item drink menu and there's no bill...the server just tells you what you owe and you're expected to hand over the money when he gets back. ;) It's full of character, that place!

Visiting My Relations ;)

That evening we took the train to northern Manhattan to see my cousin Mollie and her sweet kiddos, Parker and Lizzie. We saw their gorgeous apartment and enjoyed a delicious picnic dinner looking out over the Hudson River. A perfect way to end the tip. But I didn't take any pictures of that...cause I'm an idiot. :\

So that's our trip.

And I just have to tell you that this trip was a gift to us from my mom and dad, who overwhelm me time and again with their kindness and generosity.

Thank you so much, Mom and Dad! We made wonderful memories here. We will remember our trip as a sweet and precious time.

We love you!

New York: Days 1 & 2

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 05:20:00 +0000

So...We went to New York! About a month ago! CRAZY!

(BTW...I fear that my blog time has gone from scarce to non-existant. But I just can't quit you...! So I'll try to cram some posts in where I can. ;)

Here's The Ceases in New York.

DAY 1:

Breakfast of Champions.

Central Park

Braelyn on the Carousel that she didn't particularly love.

She is also holding my Venti Black Iced Tea. Got one of those babies every single day.

I could not have been the vacation slave-driver that I was without them! Thank you, Starbucks!

Potential Christmas card photo?

Or this one perhaps?

We figured out that if we let Braelyn take pictures we could get her to walk longer without complaining. ;)

Sweet Girl!

The American Museum of Natural Science

To be honest this wasn't our favorite stop. My family was just too worn out to fully appreciate it, I guess. Braelyn's favorite part was the little discovery room for kids.

She's digging for fossils.

Alice's Tea Cup for dinner. One of my favorite eateries!

They gave Braelyn fairy dust and fairy wings when we got there (which there aren't actually any fairies in Alice in Wonderland, but whatever, Braelyn loved it) and we had a proper pot of tea before dinner.

DAY 2:

A lovely, breezy breakfast on the patio at Juniors. But we are right across from our hotel, not in Brooklyn.

30 Rock

Enjoying some chocolates and frozen hot chocolate from Jacque Torres in the 30 Rock underground shopping area. Delish!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of my favorite places by far, but IT IS SO BIG! We were there for several hours and probably saw 30% of the museum. I HAVE to go back!

Got into a bit of trouble for taking this picture. Forgot my flash was on. Oops! (But also worth it!)

Pre-Theater Dinner at The Pig N' Whistle Irish Pub

And walking to the New Amsterdam Theater to see Mary Poppins. In the rain. With our umbrellas. So fitting.

Braelyn LOVED Mary Poppins! She got upset when she realized it was over. But daddy made her feel better with a mini Mary Poppins carpet bag. ;) But I think it's faulty, 'cause my floor lamp DOES NOT fit in there. I've tried so many times!

Anyways, we had such a good time! We're still singing show tunes a month later!

(NYC Days 3 & 4 coming...

Well, who knows when they'll be coming! ;)

The Huge-ish Life Decision

noreply@blogger.com (Steph) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:35:00 +0000

The last week of July there was a lot to do. Casey was preaching at a camp at HBU. I was trying to catch up on chores and such since we had been away at camp for several weeks. I had get us ready for New York, try to visit the Hubs a little bit in Houston, see some friends that I'd been missing, AND see a friend and her new baby boy in the hospital.

Well, in the midst if all of this, Casey and I were having some serious conversations about Braelyn's school. We really loved the school she was at last year and had enrolled her for her Kindergarten year. But we started to question our decision, mostly due to finances. See, there are a few really important things that we are trying to save for. A house being one of them. And we just got to thinking that we couldn't save the money we want to save AND send Braelyn to this school. We went around and around, weighing our options (not arguing, just thinking things through ;). Thursday afternoon (this was July 28th), Casey was at HBU and I was driving back from seeing my friend at the hospital. I called Casey and the school conversation came up. With tuition being due on Monday, and leaving for New York on Monday...we had to make a decision. When we hung up...my life was on a whole new path. The homeschool path.

Now, if God doesn't have a sense of humor, I don't know who does. It just so happened that the very next day a two-day homeschool conference was being held in The Woodlands. So I made a few phone calls (to prepare myself for the onslaught of information that was sure to assalt me upon my arrival, of course), I made a strict vow not to cry, and I went to bed early.

Friday I had spent a long time in the Classical Conversations booth. I had been familiar with the classical education approach for a while and it appealed to me very much, but I did worry that maybe I liked it more for myself as the teacher than I did for Braelyn as the student. But, I went to several sessions about CC and went home that night and did a little research. I went to the CC website to look for the groups in my area (the CC group meets once a week, plus field trips and such) and my eyeballs nearly fell out of my face because leading one of the groups was my good friend Melanie B. I clicked her name and began typing away an email explaining our crazy situation. Being the sweetheart that she is, she met me at the conference the next day and we talked for several hours about the program and homeschool in general.

In a nutshell, I went Friday morning with virtually no idea what I was going to do as far as philosophy, curriculum, HS group, nothing. And by Saturday afternoon I had a plan, a curriculum, a group and a certainty that the Lord had orchestrated it all.

So...there it is. In a matter of about 3 days we became a homeschool family.

I got a loose outline of my HS plan on Saturday and then put the whole issue (and all of our other life issues, quite frankly) on a shelf in my brain.

Went to church on Sunday.

Packed suitcases.

And left for New York on Monday morning.

I have never in my life been so ready for a vacation. EVER.