Random Cuteness

Birthday Bike compliments of Grandma Apple (named for always giving Will apples),
Construction Bike Helmet and pads--too cute for words!

I always hoped that when I had children, they would be full of spunk and personality. That's exactly what we got. I just didn't expect it to start at such a young age.

Will loves his music. His newest trick is to yell, "Song!" when we are in the car and a commercial comes on. If he doesn't like the song that is playing, such as Taylor Swift, he will also yell, "Song!" He even knows when a song is getting ready to go off and will start yelling, "Song!" in anticipation. If I'm watching something on the DVR and skipping through the commercials, he'll hear the jingle and start yelling, "Song!" so we have to go back and watch the commercials. He yells "Song!" with all the strength his little body can muster and, when the song is finally over, the end is often met with tears. His love for music and dancing has even earned him a standing invitation when Big Boss Man, is favorite blues band, plays at Cielito Lindo, the local Mexican restaurant.

Will and Daddy have written a number one hit (in our household) which is actually being sung to me now and played on the ukulele. We call it The Family Song. It is basically a list of the names of everyone in our family, but no other song compares. Any time we ask Will what song he wants to hear, he breaks into The Family Song. We hear Will singing it to himself throughout the day.

Will also has to go hear the worship at church and screams, "Song!" as we carry him screaming past the sanctuary so that he can go to his class first. Luckily we go to a church where it is okay that Will dance on the chairs as he worships. It was confirmed this weekend that Will is either going to be a head banger, or he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Another thing that has amazed me lately is Will's uncanny sense of direction. Whenever we are in the general vicinity of Guitar Center, Will starts yelling for Daddy or Daddy's Car (another of his fascinations). We were driving by Joseph Beth the other day, coming from the opposite direction we usually approach from, and he started screaming, "Choo choo! Choo choo!" because that is where he goes to play with the trains.

When Will first came to us, we tried to comfort him by speaking a little Chinese. I am pretty sure that what we said didn't sound too Chinese. (I am reminded of trying to speak Spanish to a little Mexican girl in my class. She started repeating the Spanish back to me, just like she did when I taught her English. She was totally unaware that I was trying to speak Spanish to her!) As time has gone by with Will, we have slacked off on the Chinese. Recently I have made a more concentrated effort to tell Will, "Good night. Mommy loves you!" in Chinese before he goes to bed. According to our adoption guides, this sounds a lot like, "Wo o. Mommy eye knee." As I was saying this to Will the other night, he began laughing uncontrollably. I was not sure what was so funny until he started screaming, "Night night, knee!" over and over. Now it is a nightly ritual that we must tell not only our knees, but all of our body parts, especially our elbows, good night. I heard him telling his stuffed animals, "Wan an!" (good night) this morning.

Will has lots of Mommy time, so Daddy time is very special to him. If John is around and I try to push the cart Will is in, change his diaper, or give him a bath, I get Will's version of "talk to the hand." That would be the hand extended up in the stop position, with Will screaming, "NO!" at the top of his lungs while rapidly shaking his head. Who knew "talk to the hand" was an innate expression? I must admit that I like it when he tells me Daddy must change his diaper.

We went out to eat a few weeks ago and someone came up to our table to tell us hello. John immediately thought it was someone I had taught with over the years. I immediately thought it was someone had gone to church with. Will immediately said, "Doctor!" and he was right. I guess when you spend enough time screaming at someone, their memory gets seared into your brain.

Yesterday Will got his kicks by trying to pick my nose. Never a dull moment.

I hope I don't bore you with my little Will stories, but he continues to amaze us. I always knew I'd enjoy being a mother, but I never knew it would be this much fun. As John said earlier tonight, we are going to have to stop talking about how cute he is in front of him all the time because he is going to catch on pretty soon. Or do you think he already has???

So for here's my Mothers' Day verse, which is also my excuse for scrapbooking verse (National Scrapbooking Day--May 2, 2009):
Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Happy Mothers Day to all, but especially to those first time moms and those still waiting! And Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Belated Easter Blessings!

First signs of spring!

I hope that you had a wonderful Easter! Ours was the best Easter ever, of course, since it was Will's first Easter with us. We had a few small Easter egg and candy hunts, as well as a picture of a very scared Will and me with the Easter Bunny. As a special Easter treat, Will had the cutest little Easter outfit ever!

We tried to instill the real Easter story by reading lots of Easter books, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a good kid's Christian Easter book. Will also watched Miss Patty Cake's Easter video--super cheesy, but great for little ones. Will sang the songs and danced around the room. Anyone else got ideas on how to help children understand the real meaning of Easter, especially little ones? Please share! It seemed we could think of lots of things for Christmas, but Easter was a little trickier.

Enjoy a few of our favorite Easter pics below. I hope they help you stay in the Easter spirit all year long!


1st egg hunt--Babies R Us
This was the official Easter outfit.


Someone told us to color the eggs in the bathtub--great idea! No mess!

Verse Time!

I heard this verse in Bible study this week. It was presented with this teaser--"Do you want to know what God's will is for your life? Well, here it is..."

^{1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)}

¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

April Fools, Friends, and a Verse

It is with a very heavy heart that I must inform you that John's new job has fallen through. We had to take the dog back after he ate 2 of the neighborhood cats. My new job has also fallen through , so I will continue staying home with Will. He is very upset about not getting to participate in the explosions and dances. The new weight loss show has been canceled. Our maid quit--even she could not stand the mess. Unfortunately, the children we were adopting will have to stay in Val Verde. And in case you did not figure it out, yesterday was April Fools! But remember...there is a grain of truth in every lie (except for maybe the one about the dog).


Friends
A few important updates...

Please keep praying for my friend Doug. He has a long road to complete recovery. Also pray for his wife and daughter who are adjusting to him not being at home.

My friend Marion's job is possibly in danger with some new legislation. Please click here and scroll to the bottom to sign this petition and help a friend of a friend (me!). You will also be helping students get competitive loan rates for higher education.

I have another friend who has also been working hard to create a new blog to help mothers. It's got lots of good information on it and links to helpful resources. Check it out here.


My New Verse
I can't back down from a challenge, but I sure can slack off. I hit the first 2 or 3 verses hard, but since then I haven't been memorizing my verses. I am going to get back at it. We are only on verse 7, so surely I can catch up, but only if I start now. Regardless, it has still been good to see that God always has something to say about right where I am. Here is my newest verse...

Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Family Update

I'm sorry that it's been several days since I've posted, but we've had a lot going on! The first thing that happened-- John got a new job! John was offered a position as a manager of a new pet store that will soon be opening. Many of you know that we aren't really pet people, but a good job is a good job. This couldn't have come at a better time as we have had the itch to add to our family again, so we finally decided to bite the bullet and actually get a dog. We took Will to the Humane Society and he fell in love with an adorable little Pit Bull, Great Dane mix that we brought home and named Nacho Libre. Will loves to ride on his back like he's a horse. He's only snapped at Will a couple times and got in fights with the neighbor dogs twice.

I have also decided to go back to work. I know somebody who knows somebody and was offered a job at the University of Kentucky teaching a new class about the pitfalls of teaching. It's part of their new awareness program to help students make sure that their major is a good fit. I have been busy writing down all my favorite teaching stories.

Since I will be working again, we have been looking for a daycare for Will. We found an amazing little preschool that allows you to pick a major and minor for your child. It is designed to groom them into who you want them to be. Will will be majoring in science (and doing baby science projects most of the day--some with minor explosions!) and minoring in dance (with emphasis on break dancing and ballet).

Will has also finally started talking in complete sentences. He spoke his first sentences when we were getting ready to put him to bed the other night. He said, "No way! I'm coming with you!"

John and I have also been accepted as contestants on a new weight loss show. Since the biggest losers seem to be the heaviest people, as part of our strategy, we committed to eating at buffets most evenings until the show starts taping in the late summer. If you are hankering for a buffet, give us a call.

Since my Face Book quiz said I was most like the TV mom Carol Brady, we decided that we should also get a maid. After hours of crazy interviews, we finally found one. She is going to be a live-in maid, like Alice, since we are such messes. She can follow us around and pick up after us all day, then cook us 5 course meals at night when we are tired of the buffet!

Last, but not least, we thought it would take a while to add to our family again, but the adoption rules have once again changed. As long as you can come get them by the end of the year, regardless of income, you can now adopt as many children as you want at one time from Val Verde, a South American country. By Christmas we should have four new little angels home with us. Actually, they aren't all so little. The boys are 7 and 9. The girls are 4 and 12. Look for them on the next Christmas card.

That's how it stands for the Wohlford family, this first day of April, 2009.

Better Late Than Never

I'm 2 days late with my post, but here's a convicting verse for me...

It is for FREEDOM that Christ set us free! Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1 NIV

One Year Ago

Although it's been a really busy week, I haven't forgotten that one year and 3 days ago I received one of the best gifts of my life. On March 11, 2008, I was on my way to Jazzercise when my cell phone rang. I didn't know who it was, but decided to answer anyway. I knew there was a small chance that I might be getting this very important (and long awaited!) phone call.

Luckily I wasn't far from my destination. I was sitting in a parking space by the time the special needs coordinator at A Helping Hand could give me the information. "We have a baby who's file you can review. It's a boy." I so wish I could remember everything Dana said word for word, but the main thing that stuck out was, "It's a boy." I scrambled for something, anything to write on, and finally found an old envelope. I scratched down his basic info--name, age, location, and special need.

I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that I was probably going to have a little boy instead of a girl. I'd been working on that idea already since we had agreed we'd take either sex when we applied for the special needs list. But still, after thinking you were most definitely going to have a little girl for three years, it's not easy to make a quick switch. But we knew that we wanted to have a little boy some day. I said John needed to have a boy so he could teach him how to be a gentlemen like John (one of few men who still open the car doors for their wives after 7 years of marriage).

The next two hours I was spinning, dying to get back home to my computer so I could see his face. I went into Jazzercise late, but there was an extra spring in my step. Then I went to visit my father-in-law (who had broken his hip) at the rehabilitation center. It was killing me not to tell him, but I hadn't even told John yet. He was in Atlanta for a work conference. What timing!

Finally I reunited with my computer. This is what I saw.

My first thought was how cute he was! My second was that he could actually be my baby! To be honest, I also had a chuckle about this adorable little boy getting his picture made on a bright pink flower. I tried not to get my hopes up because I hadn't talked to John yet and I knew we had to be on the same page. But I knew I wanted this little sweet guy to be MY little boy. But John was so worried about the money that I was afraid he would say no. Adoption does come with a pretty hefty price tag.

I couldn't wait to see the second and only other picture, so I opened it almost immediately.


Look at those little feet! I zeroed in on them. He might like to play ball. He could stand holding on to something. And a million other thoughts. It's amazing all the information you can glean just from a photo or two when that's all you have. (My mom is especially good at this!)

Then I read his medical info, much of which made absolutely no sense to me, and called my folks. Sorry John, but I just had to tell someone! I talked to my dad. Mom wouldn't be home for a several more minutes, which seemed like eternity. Then I finally talked to John. He had to wait for the computer in the lobby at his hotel to be free before he could even see his picture. I could tell he was excited, but tired... and scared.

I stayed up very late that night assorting the baby stuff we had collected over the past three years into stuff a little boy could use and stuff we had to stow away for a girl.

I wish I could say we went to get him right away, or even signed the papers the next day. But there was another month of calls to Will's future doctor, waiting for more medical info from China, more doctor reviews, etc. All the time with John telling me to be patient and not get too attached yet. Me getting impatient and too attached, deciding that this was going to be my little boy no matter what the doctor said. I had the best news in the world and was trying not to tell anyone but my family about it, carrying around his picture and sneaking peaks while no one was looking.

But thanks to the adoption speed ups before the 2008 Olympics in China, everything from that point on happened at the speed of light. And the rest is history.

I've learned so many things from our adoption experience. Looking in Will's sweet face everyday helps me remember. The best things in life are the things that you don't plan for. I never planned to fall in love with my best friend and marry him. I never planned to adopt a little boy from China. But God has blessed me more than I ever dreamed! We were definitely meant to have a little boy--this little boy, our Will.