In Love

As I wrote in my last post, Jay & I are now proud foster parents.

I was going to post something a couple of days ago while our little guy (He likes me to call him "Big Guy" hehe) was taking a nap. It was going to say something like this:

Exhaustion....Utter...Sheer...Exhaustion

haha

But even with the exhaustion, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. We already love our "Big Guy" so much. He is such a little darling, and we are blessed beyond measure.

Thank You, Jesus, for this privilege for care for your little child.

Blog friends, this is changing me more than I ever expected. Wow...I don't think in all my life I've ever grown so much closer to the Lord in such a short period of time. Oh, my heart is just about to burst. Despite the long days and short nights, I am utterly in love.

Baby on the Way!!!!

I thought that would get your attention! haha

Actually, it's not a baby but a TODDLER!!!

Jay & I are going to be foster parents to a toddler starting THIS WEEK!

We are both excited & nervous to have this little sweetie in our home to love and care for. I pray that he will feel loved & secure.

Every time I think of him, my heart just breaks. I've been praying for him a lot and asking our Father to comfort him and help him not to be afraid. Even though he is coming to a loving home, he is also being taken away from everything he has ever known. I can hardly wait to love on this baby & try to make this time for him as enjoyable and wonderful as possible!

It will probably only be temporary. But we're okay with that. He's got to go to a foster home regardless, and we know we can give him a very good home.

I've been thinking a lot lately about foster care and having children in our home and adopting...

I've been thinking about how much I have longed for children and how much I've mourned over the loss of my 4 babies. And then my mind comes to those little children out there who are longing for parents. As much as I want/need a child, they need a mom.

Jay & I hope that one day we will be able to adopt. And in the meantime, we're going to just keep following the Lord one step at a time. We don't know what the big picture is. But we know that God led us to foster care, and we're following.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (New International Version)

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world. (King James Version)

Isn't our Father so wonderful that He cares so much for the fatherless and widows and those in need! Lord, help us to love the things that You love and care about the things that You care about!!

God Bless You All! I'll keep you updated! And we would appreciate your prayers very much! Now....It's time to go SHOPPING and get ready for this little one!!!! :)

Approved!!!

Jay & I have been approved to be foster parents! We could get a placement any day!!

Our hope is to be able to adopt, but we are also open to having children temporarily. They need love & a good home too!! I'm excited and also nervous!

I hope to post more in detail about foster care later.

Apple Darlings

In my last post I talked about the waiting I've been doing over the last few years. So I decided to post about some of the fun things I've been doing in the meantime. I don't want my life to be on hold! I want to live & enjoy life even while I'm waiting to hold that little baby in my arms! :)

So here was a recent culinary adventure. :)

Wanna see what put a big smile on Hubby's face??

I started out with a pie crust recipe made with flour, shortening & cold water. I rolled it out & used my new handy dandy pastry cutter to cut 6 in. x 6 inch squares.

Next came a spoonful of small apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

I topped the apples with a large dollop of my homemade apple butter. Mmmmmm.... Fall was definitely in the air while making these!!

Next I folded them up like so and....

cut some little leaves to go on top.

I wanted a crispy, shiny crust, so I brushed it with milk and sprinkled sugar on top!

In you go, my little apple darlings! I baked them starting at 300 and eventually went up to 350. I totally improvised!

Out you come, all toasty & brown!

What a delicious treat!!! Homemade apple pie in a darling little crust! Just right for one person!

Waiting

Waiting....I've done a lot of that in the last few years.

First, Jay & I waited for a year to get married while I was in Asia and he was back here in the U.S. It was agonizing at times, and time seem to creep by SO slowly!! Some days it felt as if we'd never be together again. But here we are, married 3 years. And despite the 4 miscarriages, it's been a wonderful 3 years spent with Jay.

Since getting married I've spent a lot of time waiting as well. I've been waiting for the right time to take a pregnancy test, waiting for a positive ovulation test, waiting for a doctors' appointment, waiting for surgery, waiting to know if our baby would be okay, waiting for my body to heal, waiting to try again....

And here I am waiting again after 4 miscarriages and 3 surgeries. This time I'm waiting to see if the specialist was right. Were the losses really caused by a septum in my uterus that other doctors missed? Was the surgery a success? Will I be able to carry our baby in a normal pregnancy? I'm waiting for the doctor to tell me, "You can try again."

But this time I really don't mind the waiting.

In fact, I am SO thankful that I can just wait. No plans, no dates, no pressure. I'm just resting. I'm just content, knowing that I can't try right now even if I wanted to. I have no choice but to wait.

Oh, what a wonderful feeling it is to be able to think of other things like baking and cooking and traveling and seeing friends and spending time with family. What a blessing it is to not be going into surgery or to be obsessively checking myself in the bathroom to see if I'm bleeding.

And I don't feel guilty for waiting because I can't do anything else right now. I'm under strict orders from the doctor to not "even THINK about getting pregnant right now!" So that's that. I can't do anything about this period of waiting, so I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest!!!

I'm looking outside my window right now, and what a beautiful day it is! Fall is my favorite time of year. I'm looking forward to waiting & resting over these next few weeks while I eat caramel apples and see beautiful leaves and bright orange pumpkins and blooming mums. I'm looking forward to visiting the apple orchard with Jay and sitting down to a good book. I'm looking forward to drinking hot chocolate and baking a homemade dessert. I'm looking forward to running in our neighborhood with Jay...

I hope y'all enjoy your day today. Do something you love! And if you're like me and still waiting on that precious baby, take advantage of the waiting time. Do things you enjoy. If you can, do something you've always wanted to do. Go with your husband on that trip or read that good book that you never make time for.

I'll be posting about my little adventures over the coming weeks. Stay tuned for: a made-from-scratch recipe that I created, a week at the beach, redecorating my house & maybe even a book review. :)

God Bless You All! I often pray for you, my blog friends.

Your friend,

Birdie

creekjc at nctc dot com

A Big Monster at My House!!! (Weekend in Pictures)

Jay's parents have a farm and lots of animals. I married a true country boy, and I LOVE it!! We got to go riding on Labor Day. Forgot my boots that day!

I love this picture because it makes me look like a true horsewoman, which I truly am not. haha Yes, I'm from the Bluegrass State, home of the Kentucky Derby. But I've had a fear of horses ever since my horseback riding class in college, where my horse's name was Goliath. He was a goliath - completely HUGE! And stubborn! He sensed my fear and often disobeyed and did things to strike terror in me! But this sweet little horse is gentle & cute. Her name is Lady.

Here's the true horseman. I love to watch Jay ride. He's so at ease on a horse, and it makes me excited for him to teach our kids to ride someday.

I used my lovely NY&Co coupon to get this outfit! Everything is new except the shoes. And I was super excited to find jeans that I actually LIKE!! Have y'all heard of the Premium Flare Jean? It was voted the "Universal Best Jean for EVERY Body Type" by SELF magazine. I was skeptical b/c I struggle with finding the right jean. But it turns out that I love them!

Do any of you love pie? I do like them. But I think I like making them even more than eating them. I made this one completely from scratch! Here's what's on the inside:

Here we've got the vanilla filling cooking on the stove, the homemade crust with the bananas cut up in the middle, and the meringue over to the side. It's a banana cream pie.

Jay & I decided to go feed the ducks at a beautiful park about 30 minutes away. We got there with our 3 loaves of bread, but alas, there were no hungry duckies to be found. :(

So we just goofed around and took some pics instead. Too bad this ugly fence is in the way. They were doing some construction. But you can see how pretty the park is.

And now, for the monster that came to my house.....

We looked out our window and saw this ratty looking creature! It's a possom! And he's been eating my little kitty's food! It was crunching the food real loud and then sauntered off with a full belly. I'm hoping he doesn't come back! But Frisk's bowl was suspiciously completely clean yesterday evening. Looks like he may have visited again.

I had a wonderful weekend, and I hope you did too!

And now, I hope we all have a wonderful week!

Our Other Sites

My husband, the artist!

When my mom first told me about Jay (4 years ago now) & asked if I'd be willing to go out on a date with him if he asked, I wasn't sure.

I vaguely remembered him from high school, thinking of how he roped & rode horses & wore boots & Wrangler jeans.

It wasn't that I was against any of those things! In fact, I LOVE all of those things about Jay. He's the perfect mix of country & sweetness & manliness all at the same time.

But 4 years ago I didn't know that. I was worried that we wouldn't have the same interests, that he wouldn't be interested in world missions or artistic things like plays & concerts. Would he be able to appreciate my love of reading and my passion for sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard?

Well, I was COMPLETELY blown away!!! He picked me up in a little red sports car, and we spent the whole evening talking about everything! To top it all off, he even played piano for me & SANG!! How sweet!!!! I also got a peek at some of his drawings & paintings. Boy, my preconceived notions were WAY off!!!!

Being "country" is a wonderful thing, especially in Jay's case where it's paired with artistic ability and a whole lot of sweetness & goodness of heart.

Sometimes I tell Jay that I think God has doubly blessed me. I tell him that this probably isn't really the way God works, but sometimes I wonder if God has blessed me so much in other areas of my life because He's seen me have such a hard time with the miscarriages. God's been good to me.

So, all of that mushy stuff about Jay to say that I haven't mentioned our other websites in a while that showcase some of his artwork, so I thought I'd do it today!

If you'd like to see some of Jay's artwork, please check out Studio by the Creeks. He does all sorts of things from portrait drawing to oil & acrylic painting to graphic design & web design. And if you'd like to hear him sing, you can go to the Downloads button & listen. My personal favorite (and the 1st song I ever heard him sing) is It is Well. That's him playing piano too. If you feel like listening to more, also check out Your Beloved.

After you check that out, please head on over to our Painted Pixels Paintography site. It shows some really beautiful digital painting that Jay does. And it's much cheaper than an oil painting, so it's a nice alternative.

Thanks so much for looking!

I hope that y'all have a WONDERFUL holiday weekend!! Enjoy every moment!

As always, feel free to email me:

creekjc @ nctc. com

God Bless You All!