Just some photos

Here's Levi & his future girlfriend Lizzie

My grownup daughter (man where do the years go?!)

My adorable little man. (man, i just want to eat him up)

"little mom" Rachel & Levi


***I know these aren't great of Levi, but one of these days I'll download pictures from my camera...he's a cutie, looks just like his dad!***

A Guest Blogger

Friends, Family and Future Fans,

So, I'm kicking it with my Mom on the couch on Saturday night, listening to the Florida-Miami game, and to Dad ramble on and on about how the Huskers are going to need to put a solid running game together if they are going to compete in the Big 12, how the ACC may be the worst football conference in the history of the world, and how the SEC is overrated. Anyway, I'm kicking along to the ESPN theme music, and someone starts draining the pool. Now, this doesn't bother me - I mean, I was really starting to get a little pruny - but it apparently bothered Mom. All of the sudden she's up and running around - telling dad that she thougth the pool "broke," or something like that; typing on the computer, I guess to figure out if it could be fixed; up the stairs; down the stairs; in the shower; telling Dad what to pack. This can be more than a little disconcerting when you're along for the ride, hanging out upside down in a rapidly draining pool.


We drive over to the hospital at about 11:30 pm. There's a lot of hustle and bustle. Dad seems pretty happy. Mom seems less so. Then Mom and Dad decide to walk a marathon. I don't know why - Mom hasn't walked that far for as long as I've known her, and she knows when she tries that I am just going to make life miserable. She walks for about an hour, and I start noticing that she is squeezing me every 10 to fifteen minutes or so. It's not that bad. They stop for about an hour, and then, out of the blue... up they go again - walking in the same long stupid circle, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. By now, I'm dizzy, and starting to get annoyed at this squeezing every ten minutes. Finally they give up on their marathon to nowhere and go to bed around 4:00 in the morning.

The next morning there's a whole lot more hustle and bustle. At around 9:00, I hear someone say something about an induction. I am thinking, induction seems a little premature, but hey, they know talent when they see it. Having no clue about the difference between being "inducted" and being "induced", I try to relax, and start preparing my induction speech. Oh, I found out the difference. And trust me friend, this type of induction - you don't want it. Those little ten minute squeezes turned into monster bear hugs (you know the kind uncle Matt gives when he's trying to show how strong he is), and they were coming ever three minutes.

At 12:30 on Sunday afternoon, when I thought that I had had just about enough of this "induction" @#$#, this nice sounding woman named Ericka says "it's time to push." I figure, well at least we're done with "induction." Not so fast my friend. "Time to push" is not cool at all. All that means is that Mom (who I thought was on my side) starts helping whatever it is that has been squeezing me to really squeeze the ever-loving %#$@# out of me. And then I start banging my head... on everything. Bang.... "alright deep breath"... Bang.... "come on Amy, you're doing great... "Bang.. "a little harder..." ("A little harder," seriously Dad, if I was anything over 7 pounds, I would stand up and give you the ....). And on it went for an hour and a half.


Suddenly at 2:04 pm on Sunday afternoon, some (I won't say mean, but I won't say nice either) woman grabbed me by the head and suddenly everything got really cold. I started screaming, Mom started crying, I don't know what Dad was doing (I guess he's laughing, but it was just kind of weird), some lady I'd never met started wiping me down, and barking out numbers... "6 pounds, 7 ounces..." "19 3/4 inches long" "10 fingers," 10 toes," people started commenting on my nice dark hair, and how I looked like Sylvester Stallone at the end of Rocky I (you know, after he loses to Apollo).



Since then, things have been going fine. The bruises on my head and face are starting to fade, I'm eating like there's no tomorrow. Heck, I've even tried sleeping for four hour stretches in the night. I got to meet Rachel and Isaac. Rachel even held me for a while. She's great, but a little clingy. I think Isaac wants to pat me to death, so I'm going to keep my eye on him.

By the way, the name is Levi... Levi Zilen Rudy. Just thought you all should know I'm here.

Peace,

P.S. Here are some pictures to confirm my story. Sorry about the delay. Dad's not so good with computers, and we can't ask Mom to do everything.

Changes

It seems like a lot of changes have been going on, and not even the "big one" yet. So here you go....

#1 The change of teeth. Yep Rachel has lost not one, but two teeth in the last 3 weeks. We asked her if she was going to put them under her pillow for the tooth fairy...she told us that she wanted to keep her teeth & get the money for them. Jesse explained that the tooth fairy would lose her job if she did that, so Rachel decided that she already has enough money, and that she just wants to keep them. So I guess I don't get to be a tooth fairy anytime soon. :(




#2 The change of hair. So as most of you know Isaac has beautiful hair. It's very soft, and he has the best curls ever. Well, they've been getting really long lately, and we've been debating on what to do. He used to sit real still while we did his hair, but not so much lately. & it was getting to the point of having to brush it out at least twice a day or the knots would be impossible to get out. Jesse wanted to put it in locs...I thought he was too young for this.


So Jesse took him to the barber and brought him home like this.


yes, i cried. I actually really like it now, it was just really weird, he looks so different. He seems to love it though...he seriously has 5 times the energy now. I don't know if it was the weight of the hair or just that it made him so hot before, but whatever it is it's given him lots and lots of energy.

#3 Rachel starts Kindergarten. I can't believe that my daughter is in kindergarten. I have to admit this was a lot harder then I thought. I remember last year when she started preschool, and some of the moms would be freaking out & crying, and I just didn't understand. This year, I'm blaming my hormones, but I've cried. I actually didn't cry the day of, but I did before, and I did last night after hearing about how she had no one to sit with on the bus or at lunch. (so unlike my daughter) She usually has about 5 friends within the first 2 minutes of going into any store. It's just weird to see her going to such a big school (K-6th; 600 kids). I know she'll do great, but it's just weird to not have her with me all day.




#4 New Kitchen. Well not exactly a new kitchen, but at least new counter tops. Since we didn't have enough going on in out lives, we decided to replace the counter tops. Next up the floors! (erik you coming to help?!)

Before:


After:

So there's a quick update for you all about some of the things that have been going on with us. I have about 17 days left! We're still not ready...don't even have a name picked out for the little guy...Jesse wants a biblical name, I want something not too common. (please feel free to leave suggestions.)

And just to throw in a couple of more pics...here you go. :)

We're Back!

okay, so we've actually been back since Friday morning, but in my defense, we all got sick! :( Jesse, Rachel, & I all came down with some type of stomach bug...and Abinet has a cold. Jesse & Rachel are feeling better, it's taking a little longer for me, and Abinet is still pretty congested.

I hope to try to update you all on our trip soon, but here's a couple of pictures for you while you wait!

Big Sis

We got this great shirt in the mail from Jesse's sis. Thank you Melanie!
Rachel is so excited to be a big sister. Yes, her world is going to change more then she realizes, but I think overall she is going to be great. & boy does she need a sibling! She's been an only for a little too long. :)


& speaking of family, we have been truly blessed to have our family support us fully in our journey. Everyone is so excited to meet Abnet & we are so grateful that he will be loved on by everyone. It's heartbreaking to hear others' stories about how they've struggled with families who not only don't understand why they are adopting, but why they would be adopting a child of a different color. So thank you family for loving us (including Rachel & Abnet) in such a wonderful way!

Happy Halloween!

At the pumpkin patch
Cleaning out the pumpkins...it took Rachel a while to think that this was actually going to be fun
The finished product

Rachel's preschool party

Our cute little bunny

Sorting all the candy

Hope you all had a fun day!

The Wedding

I'm one of those people that once I stop doing something regularly it's hard for me to get back into it.... exercising for example, i do great until something happens where i can't excerise for a day or two, and then it takes me about a month to start up again...reading the Bible, emailing, cleaning...same thing. I can now add to the list...blogging. :) So sorry about my shortcomings...but I don't see things getting any better any time soon. But hey I can't be great at everything right!?

So I'm back tracking a bit and filling you in on the last two weeks. Erik & Lauren's wedding was great. We stayed at Hidden Hollow, a retreat/campground. I was actually not really looking forward to staying in cabins & trying to get ready for a wedding with three bathrooms and 14 people...but it actually was great. It was so much fun hanging out with everyone, and really having time to talk with people we otherwise wouldn't have time to talk with.

Here's a picture of our Cabin. There were 3 rooms, 3 bathrooms, 4 beds, 2 fold out couches, 1 air mattress, 14 people....Good Times!


Rachel & her friend Lulu swimming in the lake.


Lauren getting ready to marry my little brother.


Yes that's my dad in the kilt. You can kind of see Tamara (my sis) & I in the back.


Rachel was a great flower girl. She was acting a little off that day, and was definitely tired of pictures & other boring stuff, so we weren't sure how she'd do. But I do have to say she did great! She definitely thought she was hot stuff. I'm telling you if any of you ever need a flower girl...Rachel's your girl! :) (okay I know I'm her mom, but I still think she did good!)


My Brother & my new Sister-in-law! Yea!


& on a side note, we got to eat at Krystal Burger....Jesse loved it. Okay just kidding, it was awful. If you haven't ever tried it, DON'T! well actually you should, just so you can see how bad it is.



okay, so i've caught you all up with at least something...hopefully more to come soon :)

Good-byes & Hellos

My brother-in-law, Matt lived with us this summer. I had no idea how he would be as a house guest, but I have to say he was wonderful! (we miss you matt!) He was just here for an internship for the summer, but has already left to go back to Arkansas for his masters. Rachel loved having a "big" brother to play with, and she would've been devastated, but luckily only 3 days after Matt left, my parents arrived. So thankfully she's been distracted! (she's getting quite bored with me!)


We've been busy with my parents this past week. It's been great to be with them again. For those of you who don't know they live over in Carlisle, England (northern part). So it's always great to have them back on this side of the ocean. :) Rachel loves it when they come! Since she is the only grandchild on this side you can imagine how badly she gets spoiled!

We went to Mt. Vernon... the home of George Washington. It's the first time I've been, it was great! They've just added a huge museum to the property, and in one of the films you can watch, it actually snows on you! Rachel loved that.

Here's Aunt Tamara & Rachel at Mt. Vernon.


In the museum they had a whole room just for hands on stuff for kids to do. Rachel loved trying on the dresses.


Afterwards we went to eat some fish & chips in downtown Alexandria. (so my parents felt more at home) :)


We've also done a lot of shopping (mainly for my mothers dress) for my brother's upcoming wedding. This is what Rachel picked out for Uncle Brian to wear.


And since we're not together for any birthdays we celebrated all the birthdays that have happened in the past 6 months.





So I've caught you up a little :) My parents leave today to head down to Chattanooga to help out Lauren & Erik get ready for the wedding. The rest of us will head down on Thursday. Can't believe it's almost here already!