Where's Waldo? (a.k.a. Where's Will?)

If you remember the Where's Waldo books, you had to find a tiny Waldo in the midst of all kinds of tiny pictures setting a particular scene. Waldo went all kinds of interesting places. Since I have not been as regular as I would have liked to have been on the blog, I thought I would do a recap to show you some of the places Will has been this summer.


Will's 1st Baseball Game--The Lexington Legends--We caught one of the game balls and he was hooked up with a free glove signed by Big L. Thanks Joe and Linda! (And Joe's friend!)


Playing in the creek near Mimi and Papaw's house. Not Will's normal picture look, but I thought it was funny. Will is a very expressive guy!


Scared of heights, but relaxing for a little fun on the farm.


A Helping Hand Adoption Reunion Picnic, posed with our travel group (There were many more in our group who couldn't make it.)


Will's Child Dedication at Vineyard Community Church; Thanks everyone who celebrated with us! (A couple people not pictured.)


Playing in Fountain Square, Cincinnati, on Forever Family Day

"Looks like fun," you say? Any time we leave somewhere, Will announces that he had fun there. "Will had fun--Walmart! Will had fun--Kroger! Will had fun--church!" So now Will's favorite saying..."Will-fun guy!"

And where else could Will be found this summer? On the couch watching our first family TV show--I Survived a Japanese Game Show! Hai Majide! (Translated, "Are you serious?")

It seems like we were able to pack a lot more in this summer. Last summer was taken over by getting ready for Will, getting Will, and learning to take care of a little boy on little to no sleep! Hope everyone had as great a summer as we did!

Resolutions Revisited

My first post in January was about my resolutions. In keeping with past traditions, I could have forgotten all about them, but I really am trying to turn over a new leaf. So to make sure I will actually get some of them accomplished, I figured I better check my progress thus far. But first, here's a recap of what I had been learning about in January that spurred me on in my resolution making.

1. Faith is spelled R-I-S-K. (John Wimber) If God is as big and powerful as we claim He is, isn't He going to want us to do some big (aka risky) things?
2. On the surface faith makes no sense. Why doesn't faith make sense to most people? Because faith is being certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
3. If I am a follower of Christ, I should be defined by my faith, which (back to #1) is spelled R-I-S-K. Therefore, I should be doing some risky things this year, that would seem crazy to most people.

Once you see how my resolutions are coming along, I think you will see how all-encompassing the above 3 factors have been in our lives this year.

So here were my goals.
1. Potty Training--Check! Once we got past the first 3 miserable days of spending nearly all our time in the bathroom or cleaning up messes, Will has been amazing. The 2nd day of training we took a short break to visit the local fire station. The fireman saw him holding himself and asked if he needed to use the bathroom. He made it! Amazing control when he wants it, which is pretty much all the time now. Yeah Will!
2. Eating More Vegetables--I am doing a little better. I at least have the fruit down. I am eating healthier in general, so if I don't want to starve, I have to include a few more veggies. But I am still striving for the 5 servings a day on most days.
3. Play More--I have been more intentional about making sure that I do play while doing other things. I have been doing a little more intentional play, but can probably still do better. Perhaps I should set a 30 minute timer like Mom used to when we were practicing piano???
4. Build our Photography Business--The website is up! http://www.wohlfordphotography.com Two weddings are booked. Better business cards are in hand. We have several new customers lined up. We are still very excited about our "new" business!
5. Scripture Memory--Confession time. I have soooo slacked off. I am still picking my verses, but the spiral ring containing them is MIA without the IA. I plan on catching up. That will sure be a lot of work.
6. TBA--This is the one that started rumors flying before. But I can reveal some of it now... Part of the announcement is that we both really thought I should stay home from work. I had to officially let them know in February. I won't be returning to teaching this year. It still feels weird. I miss shopping for school supplies and catching up on the school gossip, seeing some of my teacher friends. But I know I have more fun with Will. He already knows all his ABC's and can count to 14. He is beginning to recognize his colors and knows most of the shapes--including the octagon. He has fun everywhere he goes and we do tend to keep the road warm. Even though we are strained right now, I still know that this was the right decision for our family.
And the rest of it is that we plan on adopting another baby--hopefully sooner rather than later. I'm sure this doesn't come as a shock for any of you that really know us. We have always wanted a big family. We had hoped to have already started the process. I still have hopes that we will have started by the end of the calendar year. Thanks Economy for slowing us down. But I thought I would go ahead and let you know because we could definitely use the prayers, just as we did last time. It took so long last time, that we kind of wanted to keep it to us for now, but God likes it when we pray for each other, so please pray for us to qualify, have the finances available, and for that baby somewhere who needs a home with an awesome brother!

So, back to the top, you can see that our lives feel like nothing but RISK right now--new photography business, planning to adopt again, still figuring out the day-to-day in this economy. And definitely, planning on doing anything that costs $$, which all of those things do, makes absolutely no sense. So is my life defined by faith? I still question sometimes. I definitely do not see what or why God makes the decisions He does often. But living the life I live, having the year we have been having, being able to get out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face, I have to say that my life must be defined by faith because I sure am waiting on God to provide! I am a follower of Christ, hopefully defined by my faith, which is definitely spelled R-I-S-K. If you think I am crazy, according to what is listed above, I must be doing my job. So what do you call a girl with no "real" job, trying to start a business and adopt a baby, who's biggest goals are to play with her son more, eat veggies, and memorize Bible verses? Crazy?!

August Verses

Since I've been a blog-slacker lately, I'm going to go ahead and put both verses for August. I'll have to backtrack later and tell you the verses for June.

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

1 Pet 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

If you click the links, you'll see I copied them from BibleGateway.com. It's a great place to look things up, see different translations, etc. Check it out!

Fathers and Families

Yesterday we had our last social worker visit for Will. It was basically a license to brag about our son for an hour or so, which we did rather easily. I had not given the visit much thought since we have been so incredibly busy lately (mainly why my blog has been silent), so I was really surprised by the overwhelming emotion when it was over. God reveals to me every day what a special little boy he has entrusted me with, but He really hit me with it yesterday, and the day before. I'm just so glad he's mine! He's been mine officially for a year on June 30th, when he was legally adopted in China. But I guess I do have to share him with John. ;)

We fairly frequently get the same question we got last night..."Is he always this happy?" Most of the time, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Although we could have done without his jumping up and down on the couch in front of the social worker to prove it. Will is very happy. He was described that way to us on the day we got him, when he was screaming and trying to get away from us. After he had time to get use to us, we could see this was true. She will probably never read this, but it just seems right to say thank you to the woman who was his foster mother. She must have been the absolute best. She taught him to dance and love music. He was no stranger to running and giggling. Most importantly, she bonded with him, which later gave him the ability to bond with and love us. Thank you so much!

So enough with the serious stuff, here's what you really want...pictures! I missed my tribute to fathers on Father's Day, so I wanted to share a picture of my Dad with Will. Papaw is one of Will's favorite people in the world. It's been that way since the minute they met at the airport. All children seem to love my father. I do not think I have ever seen anyone act goofier around a child, which is what makes him so great. Dad, thanks for being so special to my boy. For all the rides you give him in the golf cart, the potato chips you sneak to him, and for sleeping with the little wildcat when he visits! And thank you for being the same kind of great father to me!


Will with Mimi and Papaw at the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg

I could not let my Father's Day tribute go by without a shout out to John, of course! Anyone who knows John must know that he is an amazing father. He dotes on Will constantly. Will wants to be just like his daddy...playing guitar, riding in Daddy's car, dressing like him. If given a choice, Will will pick out a shirt that he thinks looks like Daddy's.


Since John loves his T-shirts, I could see no better present than to make them matching shirts.

Happy belated Father's Day to all you dad's out there! (When I'm this late with a wish, I like to call it "spreading the joy.")

Fathers and Families. We celebrate Family Day, the day we first met Will, on June 29th. Will has become quite the train enthusiast, so we went to check out Entertrainment just north of Cincinnati. Definitely worth the trip if your little ones (or big ones) like trains--or if you need a good excuse to visit Ikea. It was the perfect way for us to celebrate being a family.

June Verses

Here's what I've been working on...

James 1:5 (NIV)
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.


And for the rest of the month...

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

7 years!

As of June 8, 2009, John and I have been very happily married for 7 years! It's amazing how time flies! But it's even more amazing how love can grow every day.

For those of you not married yet, wait until you find a godly man (or woman) who loves you more than you could ever have imagined. John is the picture of selfless, unconditional love. I've always said he is a much nicer person than me, and he has proven it every day for 7 years. Girls, you've got to find the kind of guy that does not make you cringe when you read about submission in the Bible, because you know that he truly does have your best interest at heart and is seeking God's counsel to back it up.

I don't really feel like I picked John, more like God dropped him in my lap and said, "Here he is!" I may be wrong, but I'm one of those people who feels like God has one special person out there for you. I think we can mess with the plan and God can make the next best thing work, but I think if you follow the path there is one best choice out there for you. John is it for me.

The best reason to get married is that you feel that you can better serve God with that person than you could without him or her. I believed that 7 years ago, but now I see how true it has been. John has not only helped me live out my dreams, but has also helped me realize what they are. I seem to mention something small in passing and BOOM! John is on it, encouraging me to do it, to live it, to be it. (For an example, check out our new website: http://www.wohlfordphotography.com.)

One of the very best pieces of advice that anyone ever gave me was to marry someone whom you would want to raise your children if you were gone. I have no doubts that if something happened to me, Will would turn out to be the kind of man I want him to be, a man like his father.

To my husband, John, I love you with all my heart! Thank you for the last 7 years. I look forward to our future together! And thank you God for this wonderful man!

Lucky Mom

Sorry I haven't been posting more. We've been busy lately, but I don't want to be too scarce, so I promise to do better!

My first official Mothers' Day was great. It started with church. Although we don't go to a traditional church, we did the traditional "mothers please stand" thing. I must say that I've always hated that. Anyone with me? I know that my mom always hated standing up because she didn't want anyone to look at her. I hate it because of all the years I wanted to stand, but couldn't. Then there was last year when I had a referral and had to go through the whole "Should or shouldn't I?" conversation in my head. I did decide to stand, but wondered how many people were talking about me and wondering where my child was. The year before that I totally skipped church just because I didn't want to burst into tears when they asked mothers to stand. So a word to those who have a say in whether or not their churches ask the moms to stand--please don't! You can honor everyone while they're still sitting down. The nicest non-moms day I had was a few years ago when all the women were given flowers, whether moms or not, because they recognized the mothering nature of all women. Somewhere in every congregation is that woman who, whether she wants to stand or not, desperately wants to be a mom, but isn't yet. That poor girl feels bad enough, so please don't make it worse!

Standing or sitting, there are moms in our lives that deserve to be honored. My mom is one of my best friends. I wish I could spend more time with her and have the best time when we do. There is probably no one in the world who is more like me--except maybe John! She was an excellent role model growing up and still is. She is a wonderful grandmother to Will. The best compliment I ever got was that I was the perfect mix of my mom and dad. I should say more, but how can you put into words all your mother means to you?

My grandmothers have also been a great blessing to me, spoiling me and teaching me. Grandma Tilly (Apple) adores Will and is wonderful with him. They had an especially good time making pretend apple pies just a couple days ago.

John's mom has been a blessing to us. She is a great example of generosity and putting others above herself. She too loves Will with all her heart.

This Mothers' Day, as with those past, I hoped to do a little something for the moms in our life, but fell short as always! But as a mother with a child finally here in the flesh, I felt that I didn't really need to be honored. It goes back to the old question, "Should we really be honored for doing our job?" It's my job to love Will with all my heart, provide for him, and help him be the best person he can be. I do that with the best of my ability. Although I knew it would be demanding, it's a lot more consuming a job than I thought it would be--and a LOT less sleep! But when the day is done, it's my job. That's what I signed up for. I would not trade it for anything. Instead, I just wanted to spend Mothers' Day thinking about how lucky I was just to finally be a mom. How lucky I am to have, who we feel, is the cutest, sweetest, smartest little guy in the whole world. Without a doubt, you can count me among the luckiest moms in the world. Will is my present. I am just glad he was here with me this year!

Regardless of that feeling, John and Will did make Mothers' Day extra special. John did not miss any chances to direct Will to give extra hugs and kisses. In addition to what John got me, he took Will to pick out which scrapbooking or quilting magazine and num-nah (candy) mommy would get. We knew Will would get into it because the night before Will had grabbed his own basket and meticulously looked over the items at the dollar store, deciding wich things to keep and which to put back. I must say that, with Daddy's help, he did a great job on my gifts.

I also hoped to get something Will had made to remember my first Moms' Day. At church they decided to have the smaller kids make footprints. When we picked up Will they told us that he wouldn't do it. He was the only kid in the class who wouldn't. As a matter of fact, he started shouting, "Ew! Ew!" when they tried to paint his feet. He even got the rest of the kids to chime in shouting. That's my boy--the instigator!

To all of the lucky moms out there, happy belated Mothers' Day!

I mentioned a few months ago that I have a slew of pictures of me with a big cheesy grin showing how happy I am to be a mom. Here is a couple of my favorites...


China


Halloween

And here's my verse, only a week late!

Isaiah 54:13
All your sons will be taught by the LORD,
and great will be your children's peace.