Sakari's 2nd Birthday Party!!!

We can hardly believe that our sweet baby has turned 2!!! She is such a sweet JOY in our lives!!! She is sleeping in her big girl bed SO WELL and is a trooper at this potty training...she is doing SO GREAT!!! We were so happy that her grandma, grandpa and aunt Christy were able to be here from out of town for the celebration!
here are some of our favorite photos and video clips from her party!!...and the song is Sakari and daddy's song he mentioned in a previous post...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Poop and Our Song

Sakari has already learned as of today, how to actually poop in the potty!!! She has been successful without any pee accidents for 3 days...she is getting this thing down! And I have to share that we have "our song"...one day while Sakari was riding with me, we rolled down the windows, turned up Amos Lee...and we sang "You're the Only Reason (I Keep On Coming Home) at the top of our lungs...now everytime she hears it on the AT&T commercial on TV with that song...she sways, sings and looks at me...I think this will be our new family song, it's "our song".

Potty Training!

More like bootcamp. Sakari will love us for this post in about 10 years...lol! Well, day 1 was definitely the hardest...we went through about 10 pairs of big girl panties, but we just set the timer and kept as consistent as possible to take her to her potty. There were several accidents and only a 10% success rate on day one. Day 2, we started reading a potty story book and she seemed a little more comfortable and only had about 3 accidents, and 3 successful pee excursions in the potty. Today, ah...sweet day...she had one, yes one, tiny accident that didn't even get on the floor...she held her pee until we got to the bathroom and successfully went 7 or 8 times today!!!!!!! We had about a 98% success rate...are we geniuses? Not so much. But with the help of family in town helping us keep the timer and trips to the bathroom consistent - Sakari got the concept. Now, pooping is a little different as the first couple of days she wasn't sure what to do, but tonight we did have a poop explosion right before bed, but I think she's now getting more used to what she needs to do. She has been wearing pull ups during nap time and a diaper at night (they just hold more) and it has seemed to work for her. We know that poop takes longer. It's been a learning experience for us too, as we've had to put ourselves into her shoes and trying to understand that she's had to have a major mind shift from going anytime she feels like it to having to sit down and really think about how and when to deal with the bodily functions :) We are so proud of our little one...who is not so little anymore! We love her sooo much!!! Sakari, in our defense...we didn't post the naked butt pictures!

Flying!!!

Just a few pics of Sakari's fun in the last few days with the fam...flying with Aunt Christy, running with Grandma, a break dance move, her new swing and a random pic of a red bud tree :)

Sakari's almost 2 photo shoot and well check...

I can't believe our sweet girl is almost 2!!! We had professional pics taken last year and since I started my photography business...I got the honor of shooting her pics this year. We went downtown to a park and to the RR tracks and we had SO MUCH fun!! Also...we went to her 2 yr well check at a naturopathic doctor...she is healthy and strong and REALLY tall! Enjoy the pics:

Spring Weather fun...

Today....Tulsa decided to show us a little spring weather...after our random snow a couple of days ago...it was in the high 60's this afternoon and so we played outside...






...She wanted to check on daddy who was in the house...but didn't want to go in all the way :0)

The Inspiration for my Tattoo...

GOD PIONEERED THE ADOPTION PROCESS. WHEN ADAM SINNED, HE ALIENATED HIMSELF FROM GOD AND BECAME A SPIRITUAL ORPHAN. MANY PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY GOD DIDN'T JUST FIX THINGS RIGHT THEN AND THERE. THE REASON WAS THAT GOD HAD GIVEN HIS SON, ADAM, DOMINION IN THE EARTH, BUT THEN ADAM THROUGH HIS ACT OF TREASON, GAVE UP HIS AUTHORITY TO SATAN. IT WAS LEGAL. GOD WAS NOW ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN. THE ONLY SOLUTION TO RESTORE HIS SON BACK TO HIM WAS ADOPTION.

GOD CREATES THROUGH HIS WORD. IF YOU WILL NOTICE, THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT, GOD IS GETTING HIS WORD BACK INTO THE EARTH THROUGH HIS PROPHETS. THE PLAN OF GOD WAS TO RESTORE THE ORIGINAL ORPHANS BACK INTO THE FAMILY. EVERY PROPHECY UTTERED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE DAY OF ADOPTION. THE REVELATION OF THE LOVE OF GOD IS FULLY EVIDENT WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT WAS GOD GOING THROUGH THE ADOPTION PROCESS TO RESTORE THE ORPHANS.

"BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST. ACCORDING AS HE HATH CHOSEN US IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, THAT WE SHOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM IN LOVE: HAVING PREDESTINED US UNTO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BY JESUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF, ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL." EPHESIANS 1:3-6

ADOPTION IS THE PROCESS, NOT THE RESULT. THIS CANNOT BE EMPHASIZED ENOUGH. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ADOPTION TRULY IS AND HOW IT CHANGES EVERYTHING. WE CAN SEE THE ADOPTION PROCESS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT, BUT THE PROCESS WAS COMPLETED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS. AS CHRISTIANS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR SALVATION WAS THE RESULT OF ADOPTION. IT WAS THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION THAT MADE US SONS AND DAUGHTERS. WE ARE NO LONGER ADOPTED. ONCE THE ADOPTION PROCESS WAS COMPLETE, WE BECAME FAMILY BY BLOOD.

"BUT WHEN THE FULNESS OF TIME WAS COME, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON, MADE OF A WOMAN, MADE UNDER THE LAW. TO REDEEM THEM THAT WERE UNDER THE LAW, THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION OF SONS. AND BECAUSE YE ARE SONS, GOD HATH SENT FORTH THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON INTO YOUR HEARTS, CRYING, ABBA, FATHER. WHERE THOU ART NO MORE A SERVANT, BUT A SON; AND IF A SON, THEN AN HEIR OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST." GALATIANS 4:4-7

IT IS THE REVELATION OF GOD'S ADOPTION THAT CAN TAKE US TO FURTHER UNDERSTANDING THE IMMEASURABLE IMPACT THAT CAN BE MADE IN THE WORLD THROUGH ADOPTION. EVERY ORPHAN IN THIS WORLD HAS A CALL OF GOD ON THEIR LIVES - A CALL THAT COULD CHANGE THE WORLD! WHEN A FAMILY ADOPTS ONE OF THESE "LITTLE ONES", THEY ARE INVESTING IN THAT CHILD'S CALL. MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THEY CANNOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. REMEMBER, JESUS SAID THAT THE ENTIRE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIKE A SEED. FOR EVERY ORPHAN THAT IS ADOPTED, IT IS A SEED PLANTED IN THEIR LIVES. THE FRUIT THAT THEY BEAR WILL BE ON YOUR ACCOUNT BECAUSE OF YOUR INVESTMENT IN THEIR LIVES. YOU CAN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING THAT ONE CHILD WALK IN THEIR CALLING AND BRING OTHER "ORPHANS" INTO THE KINGDOM. WHEN THEY CHANGE THE WORLD, YOU HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD. ALL IT TAKES IS ONE CHILD!

Adoption: by Joshua David


Another source of inspiration: Saviour King by Hillsong United

And now the weak say I have strength
By the spirit of power that raised Christ from the dead
And now the poor stand and confess
That my portion is Him and I'm more than blessed

Let now our hearts burn with a flame
A fire consuming all for your Son's holy name
And with the heavens we declare
You are our king

We love you Lord, we worship you
You are our God, you alone are good

You asked your Son to carry this
The heavy cross our weight of sin

I love you Lord, I worship you
Hope which was lost, now stands renewed
I give my life to honor this
The love of Christ, the savior king

Let now your church shine as the bride
That you saw in your heart as you offered up your life
Let now the lost be welcomed home
By the saved and redeemed those adopted as your own

I give my life to honor this
The love of Christ, the Saviour King

Is it March already??!

Well, we have been without wireless for almost a week - GASP! But we had a great ET food cooking get together at our home last weekend with several adoptive families from the Tulsa and OKC area. We had great notes from the last time Mimi for Queen of Sheba came up to teach us how to make the food, so Becca and everyone's hard work paid off and it was GOOOOODDDD! We had a blast and though the pics taken weren't the best (my bad!) - it was very memorable and so exciting to see the adoptive community growing!

Jack has also finished his first round of puppy training and did amazing, labradoodles are the best dogs EVAH! We got him groomed last week and thought we'd share some of those pics.

Sakari is doing amazing and a source of constant joy and laughter! She's getting so big and already wearing 3T clothes primarily - Daddy might just have a basketball player! She also just finished her Diaper Dolphins class today and is a pro at going underwater and loves her some water! She loves, loves music and knows exactly what she wants to listen to and loves to climb up and play the piano and make up songs...and let me tell ya, she's good! We cannot believe that in just a few weeks she will be turning 2, we are looking forward to Terrific Twos, not Terrible...we choose to enjoy each moment and she makes it so easy!

Some other fun news is that my (Caleb) sister is almost 8 weeks pregnant so it will be baby number 2 on our side of the family...we're all sooo excited!

We are busy with life in general and learning to place boundaries to make sure we don't burn out. What, with helping run a growing Christian school (www.faithcentralonline.com), planning our main event of the year with Big World Ventures, Brio Missions to Guatemala, www.briomissions.com with almost 500 people signed up to go, owning and running Mission Threads and Becca growing her photography business (www.treasuredcaptures.com) and making sure that family stays a priority...it's a huge task, but it's been amazing to have a sweet girl like Sakari to remind us what's important...family is more important than anything else. The end.

Oh...it's not really the end, just a teaser...I'm getting a tattoo next week.