Our sweet baby boy...

We received new pics of Josiah this weekend. Oh what a joy to see him growing, yet painful not to be with him. He is already looking so big! We can't wait to get him home!

YAHOOOOOOO!!!

I just finished doing the "happy dance!" WE GOT OUR I600a APPROVAL!!!!

What an awesome God we serve! Just when I thought I would go crazy, wondering about our approval, God picks me up and shows me something amazing!

Not only did we get approval, we are approved for "special needs." So our little Blessing is one more step closer to us! Our social worker has been so great througout this. She made this happen for us! She faxed the necessary things that were needed, and got the approval the same day. How awesome is that?

Just had to share this amazing step (hurdle) we are done with!

God Bless,
Christina

I want to leave a legacy...

Today was a tough day, waiting for the stupid piece of paper that will get the ball rolling for Blessings paperwork! But, God reminded me that He is in control.

The million and one things that have been going through my mind lately...not only adoption stuff, but hobby farms, alpacas, parenting skills, and look at how my house gets messy so quick!!! I am trying to be more disciplined with my prayer time and bible reading. Today the thought of "what kind of legacy do I want to leave this world" came to me. I KNOW I won't be known for having a neat and tidy house! Or, a large house with a room for every child. Or the pile of money I will leave my kids (NOT)! With all that is in me, my deepest desire is for my children to have a "true heart of love" for our Lord. I want them to be able to hear Him. I want them to KNOW Him. I want them to follow Him! The best way to do this is by example. Okay, here is where I need GRACE! I flub up everyday! But do my kids know I love God? YES! Do they know I am not ashamed to share what He does for us? Yes! They also know that my love for them is deep. I hope they know that their FATHER GOD's love is even deeper. I am trying to teach them. While God teaches me, EVERYDAY, sometimes by the minute, I hope I am teaching my children. I want to leave a beautiful legacy, the beauty of my children, loving the Lord, and someday all of us worshipping at His feet!

OUR BLESSING!! Our gorgeous baby boy!

This is our little Blessing! We have been waiting for our I171-H approval, before we made our announcement. We still are waiting on the approval, but could not hold in our excitement any longer!
We received our referral on July 9th. God has been so good! We had inquired about another little boy that had special needs. We prayed and God told me "no." The very next day, we got the call on Blessing. We have talked about being open with a special needs child. We were very specific on what we would be comfortable with. When Donna at Acres of Hope called and told me about Blessing, I just knew he was the one that would just "fit" in our family unit!!!! Acres of Hope does not usually give out referrals before the I171-H approval, so we are an exception! Blessing was born on May 24th 2007. He is a true miracle of a baby! I won't reveal the personal history that makes him such a miracle to us, this is something we will hold close to our heart, and reveal only to Blessing when he is old enough to understand. God has truly shown us how amazing His love is, and how he is giving us this wonderful task of raising this precious little one.
As I said before, Blessing is a special needs. He is missing his right hand fingers, but has little digits that look like toes! Not much of a disability to us! We are pretty sure all those little (toe-fingers), will work for even grasping small objects. He is one of the most beautiful baby boys I have laid eyes on. (Besides our other boys)! We can't wait to get this little guy home so we can love on him!!! All our kids are soooooo excited and talking about what they will do when he gets home. We all know that this process will take awhile. We also know that God's timing is perfect! We have experienced His perfect Will and Timing with our previous adoption.
Blessing will have the new name of...Josiah Blessing.
We would appreciate all your prayers for every step of this adoption. They are so important to us!

God Bless,
Chrstina

Some recent pics

LOOK MOM, NO HANDS!
Sonshine 2007...waiting for Toby Mac! Alex is a huge fan!
Cute pic of hubby. ( Notice the blue tongue behind him)! Hi Linda!
My swimming girls!

*If you feel led, we would appreciate prayer on our I-171H approval to come in the mail! (This is a big step toward our adoption)!
Thank you,
God Bless,
Christina

"If we get muddy, God will clean us up!" (Quote from our 4 year old Love).

We had an amazing time at Sonshine 2007! The weather was perfect, kids were great, music was awesome!! It was very relaxing, but tiring, if you can have both...Bedtimes were never before midnight, but naps made up for some of that.
Toby Mac was probably the best! I have never seen a better show! The crowds for his concert were a little overwhelming, some rudeness, but we made it through. We also saw a ton of other very popular bands.
One of the sermons was on "getting dirty." How, we as Christians should be more open to loving on all the "dirty" people, showing them Jesus. Not hiding in our nice little churches, looking like we have the perfect life, not welcoming them with open arms into our churches. Who are we to be so superior? Aren't we all dirty in some way or another? Their may be a prostitute, drug dealer, gang member, who will not step into a church because of the attitudes that have been witnessed from "us Christians." How can they feel a refuge in such a place as we are making our churches? They can find Jesus in other ways, but the church should ALWAYS be a place that they KNOW they can come to. The sermon also taught the basic fact that we are dirty!! Sin is dirty! BUT..."GOD GOT DIRTY SO WE COULD GET CLEAN!" Jesus was that sacrifice so that we could be clean in Our Father God's eyes! How amazing and humbling that is!!!
So when we were walking back to our camper after one of the concerts, my 4 y.o., Love, said..."If we get muddy, God can clean us up!" Wow! Coming from a little child, how much impact that had on me.

God Bless,
Christina

I LOVE easy days!!!

The kids let me sleep in!!! Cereal for breakfast (our morning staple:), coffee for me, took everyone out to the pool while I read the paper and had my coffee watching them. How great is that??? Afternoon, the kids had quiet time with a movie on the couches, I had my reading time just for me, then more pool time!! I LOVE uneventful days!



On Tues., my wonderful husband and teenager, drove all the way to Chicago to pick up our new camper, (well used, but new to us). I have missed camping this past spring, and can't wait to go in the Fall, and to "SONSHINE" next week! Our last camper had three bunks in the back and our bed up front. Our new camper has four bunks in their own room. All five kids can fit now, even adding another little one can fit. It's just perfect for us!



I am anxiously waiting for the mail everyday now!!! I can't wait to get an approval so we can move onto the step of waiting for a child referral. The name of the adoption game is WAIT...wait...wait...then wait some more, until finally the time to pick up your child is here!! I realize we have a long way to go, but it is nice to be at this point. Today I was just imagining holding my little boy on my chest...mmmmm so sweet! I am looking forward to the day I can put a face and name to him.



Yesterday was a tough day with my daughter. If she doesn't have sufficient sleep (13 hours), her behavior can end up being very frustrating to me. At the end of the day, I was emotionally spent. But, God was there to remind me, how many times I can annoy Him with my behaviors! I can ask for that forgiveness He graciously gives, and it's gone! I ended up having a heart talk with my daughter, trying to repeat myself A LOT (the only way she can re-call things), giving hugs and telling her "thank you for making me a better mom." "God gave me you to make me better." I truly believe that!

God Bless!

Happy 4th!!

Not much to report...just another week in the Hoffman house!

Last night we went to St. Paul for the fireworks show. It was great! Unfortunately, the family that was right by us, seemed to have very few parenting skills. Their kids were screaming, having tantrums, all while they are telling them to "shut up," belittling them, making empty threats, swearing at them. I really wanted to say something, but I was a little afraid of getting smacked...
It did make me appreciate my kids' behavior. They were sooooo good, even though we had to wait for an hour and a half for the show to start. Five of us ended up cuddling on the blanket while waiting. I just soaked up the beautiful sight!!

Sunday sermon really hit home with me. I struggle daily with giving everything up to God. It's my human flesh trying to be my own God. I struggle with all the blessings we have around us, taking advantage of all the riches. Our family is so blessed to be where we are...a Free country, a home, family, food, clothes, and all the bonus stuff...cars, boat, able to stay at home with my kids, etc. Last night as I was watching the fireworks, my heart was saying, "well there goes money exploding in the air that could have fed a whole orphanage for a few years!" Adopting has certainly opened our eyes to another side of the world that so many can't even comprehend. I have looked into a child's eyes that has been abandoned, starved, sickly. My whole being just wants to save them!!!! I don't want to be a person that can walk by a need, and hope that others will notice. I WANT TO BE MORE LIKE JESUS! I don't want to miss opportunities. We have so many blessing around us, I just want to share them. This is one reason we are choosing to adopt again. Yes, we have struggled with issues that have come up. But who doesn't struggle?? We have come through so many hard times...but miracles have happened...a saved marriage, a child's healing, a heart change, etc. God can do anything! I believe there is a miracle just waiting to happen. Please join me in prayer for a child's miracle. I can't share the specifics, but would appreciate prayer so very much!

Next week we are going to a three day Christian camping festival, Sonshine Festival! It is so awesome to watch our favorite music artists...Newsboys, Casting Crowns, Toby Mac, etc., in this type of concert fest. Worshipping in the beautiful outdoors! It's an amazing experience. The kids are so excited, but Andrew will be going on a vacation with a friend this year, so we will miss him.

I must go...taking four kids to the store for some necessary supplies for the 4th!!

Everyone have a blessed 4th of July!!!!
Thank you God for this wonderful Country of ours!!!

Christina

Happy 18th Anniversary to us! (Some pics over weekend)

I need more flower gardens...

I spent two hours, weeding one of my flower gardens, replanting a few more, and adding more brick border. Oh how relaxing and peaceful it was! Everyone was busy at doing their own thing, so I was able to get a solid two hours in. Anthony made the kids lunch for me, and Andrew worked on the go cart with Alex. I could spend everyday in the gardens. I do wish I had more. Our veggie garden got only half planted this year, due to the weather and our schedules. Scott and a few of the kids did get corn, watermellon, pumpkin, tomatoes, and cukes in though. We'll just have to use our local farmers market for all the other fresh veggies and fruit we are craving.

Not much more to report...

Have a great weekend

Last night we had a pretty big thunderstorm that brought some hail with it. The windows sounded like they would crack or shatter! It didn't last long, and we did need the rain. This morning when I was getting Edline on the bus, we were greeted by these beautiful flowers! It has taken two years to get these babies to bloom.

Anthony had a baseball game lastnight and hit his first double! We were so proud! Alex has a game tonight. It is so fun watching our boys enjoy the game so much.

Not much more to report today. Kids will probably go swimming again.

Our hummingbirds continue to give us cheap entertainment. We have a constant stream of hummingbirds on our feeder. They are right on our deck and don't mind us so close to them. They give us a little stare down if they are out of the nectar, so I have to always keep on top of keeping it fresh.

Have a blessed day!

Christina

My morning...

I was trying to come up with a way to give others a visual picture of Edlines disabililty. (She is 7). So, just this morning, as I was getting her ready for summer school, (she has four hours with a fantastic cognative teacher), we had one of our frustrating conversations. I did not show my frustration, I only displayed calmness and patience, THANKING GOD for that!
I asked Edline what she would like for breakfast, and this is how the conversation went. "Can I have those things?"(as she was motioning something small with her hands).
"Edline, what is a thing?"
She already was starting to get frustrated that I couldn't read her mind. So I had to stop the mopey's in it's track, and get her to try to explain.
"If you don't know what you are trying to tell me, try to tell me what it looks like, where it is, what it tastes like." Me, smiling, talking in a gentle voice.
"I want toast." Edline
"Toast?" me
Edline, looking at me as if I'm going to give her spinach. "Can I just show you where there at?"
"No Edline, you need to try to use your words." me
She is getting really frustrated with me, but knows I will not back down or let her walk away without finishing what we started, (this is from experience)!
Edline, "those bread sticks."
"Edline, we don't have bread sticks."
"There in the freezo. They go in there," (pointing to the microwave).
Now, at this point, I know that she has had enough of trying to verbalize her intention, so to avoid a melt down, or more mopies, I guide her to the anwer.
"Edline, do you mean french toast sticks?" me
She nods her head, but I make her say it so she hears herself say it.
I praise her for sticking with it and trying to explain it all out. We hug, I make her french toast sticks, and we move on!
Okay, so, we have had french toast sticks in our house for years. This is not something new. But for Edline to verbalize such things, is very difficult. I don't always have the patience, but I never let her get away without trying to work it out in her brain, to make those connections. In her world, no matter how many hundreds of times she has heard something, a lot of the times, the connection can't be made to verbalize it. Sometimes the connection is even lost, where something she has seen, heard, etc., over a few dozen times, ends up being completly new. A window can be a door, or vice versa. A driveway can be a sidewalk, or vice versa. This is just one of our daily situations. Parenting her is very different than parenting our other kids. I have confidence that the older she gets, the easier it will be for her to talk herself through to get to the answers. Thank God that she is so forgiving of me, because there are times when my patience is not there. When I look at her, I see such a beautiful daughter, who does try sooooo hard. I don't know what her future holds, but I do know that she will reach her greatest potential with us and the unending help of Our Heavenly Father!

On a different note...last night we had a late night, due to Anthony's baseball game. Alex went to sleep on our floor (again), Love had a snotty/bossy attitude lastnight, so ended up going to bed earlier. I finally got to the Sunday paper at 10:00 last night. Andrew also was playing his guitar for Scott and I last night. He is so gifted musically. That comes from my husband! Andrew can listen to a song, and play it out on his guitar, or write a whole percussion to it. He is currently working on getting songs for the drumline for Fall. He played me three of them yesterday. It just blows me away how he can do that!

We are still looking for land. We are praying over a 21 acre piece, wondering what to do about it. Not sure if we should wait, keep looking, or buy.

On the adoption front, just doing the waiting game. We are waiting on the I600a approval, so then we can do some more waiting on a referral. That alone can take months. We are in no hurry. Since this is the second time around going through the process, the urgency is just not there. I know that God has perfect timing!

God Bless your day!

Feeling unequipped...

Some days, I feel so unprepared, unequipped, and lost. This is my reality. I struggle daily with giving my cares to God. I fully realize that my struggles and anxieties are brought on by my own selfishness, not giving them up to my God. I know how it feels to have the peace that comes with laying it down for the Lord. I'm still growing and learning, everyday, how to do this.

One of these struggles I'll post about today. The Lord gave me a task, that, some days, I don't know what He was thinking!! This task is parenting a special needs child. For those of you who don't know our story, our Haitian daughter, adopted three years ago, has significant cognative disabilities, among other diagnosis'. I would not have chosen this for our family, but God had a different answer. We knew nothing about our daughters disabilities until she was home with us, time passed, and recognized something serious was going on. Parenting her has been so challenging some days, stretching me in so many uncomfortable ways!! But through all this, we know our daughter just fits, we love her dearly and cannot imagine life without her. She has the most beautiful face, happy disposition, (most days), and is the most loving child in our whole family. She has grown leaps and bounds in our family, and will reach her greatest potential with us. I cannot explain the emotions that go along with parenting her, only those who have parented a special child, knows what we go through on a daily basis. What everyone else will see, is a child who is happy, full of energy, polite and eager. For those who are reading this and are considering adopting, read, read, read! Everything you can, including getting on email groups and reading others experiences. That has been the greatest resource for us. Now that I know how to parent a "special needs" child, would I "choose" to do it again with another child? No. I would consider a medical needs child though. Through our next adoption, if we received another child like our daughter, would we be disappointed? NOPE! I know that God has controlled all of this. He knows what He's doing. I don't! I love ALL my kids sooooo dearly. I love being their mom. I just have to lay it down, and let God to His work, and pray, pray,pray!!!!!



I hope that this post has not been a downer for some of you. It's the vulnerable truth about our reality. I'm not going to be one to sugar coat things, or tip toe around so others see only the "rosy" things in our life.

Happy Father's Day...

Today I am giving extra thanks to all the wonderful daddy's out there! (Especially to my own! I love you dad)!

The greatest thanks and praise goes to my Heavenly Father, who gave us these wonderful dad's and father's! He is the Father of all nations, and the ultimate role model for us. I am so humbled at His gifts He daily gives! Thank you Lord!

Today my husband was greeted this morning with a bed full of kid greetings and "happy fathers day!" Including the dog, who thinks she is just one of them.

Yesterday we had a wonderful "boat day." I will post some photos of some of the pics I got. It was hot!

God Bless and Happy Fathers Day!

It's all HIS!

Yesterday we set up our 15ft pool for the kids. The weather has been really warm for this time of year, so we were able to start the pool earlier this year. Well, after filling up the great pool, the kids decided it was too cold and made their own bathtubs, filling with warm water and soap!

These are my Alpaca girls! Coyilla, Alpanda, Zoee and Elliation. Three are preggers, so we will have 7 Alpacas by next summer. We have been looking for some acreage around our area since last summer. We have had our eye on a 20 acre property that is 15 minutes from our house now. It would still be in the same school district, and has amazing views and contours. The kids would have a ball hiking the property. Even though we will have to spend quite a bit for a driveway to where the house could go, we are making a lower offer on it today.

We could use some prayers our way for this!

On the adoption front, I just checked our package/dossier, which was on it's way to AOH in Wisconsin...has now made it safetly to it's destination! Now, it's just waiting for them to call and let us know it everything is in order and ready for a referral!

My encouragement for today, God whispering..."Trust in me, lay it down, EVERYTHING you have is mine."

What a peaceful feeling to know I can take my worries to HIM! I love you my SAVIOR!

God Bless! Christina