BIG Family News!!!

PLEASE check out our family’s new blog (http://www.outonalimbadoption.blogspot.com/)  regarding details about our family’s exciting news: we are staring the process of adopting a child from Haiti!  This new family blog will not only journal our way through this adventure, but will also serve as the hub for our new business venture, Out On A Limb Adoption, which we are pursuing in order to honor The Lord (and follow His Word) by completing this journey debt-free.

To help spread the word we sincerely ask that you not only check out our site, but also “follow”, “like” or “befriend” us in any way you can.  We are new at this business process and can use all the help we can get.  Every penny raised from the sale of our bow ties (and future products) will go directly towards the adoption of a child (as will any left over funds).  With your help we can use this step of faith as a tangible example of just how true HIS Word is (“For there is NOTHING Our God cannot do”).

Thanks in advance for any and all support you can give as you join us in stepping “Out On A Limb”!!

The Scharffs

http://www.outonalimbadoption.blogspot.com/

Tickets and Turkeys

Ok, the truth is that Wade spent a lot, A LOT of time in front of the TV the first 3 months of Chloe’s life. We have slowly been weaning him to a reasonable amount over the last 2 months but mommy and Wade are still in the habit of turning to the TV in moments of boredom or low patience.

Recently, I have developed a need to rid myself of a massive roll of tickets. You know, like the kind you would get at a Premier Designs Jewelry party when you ask a question or something. Then the ticket gets put into a drawing for some (usually) ridiculously chinsy prize from the Dollar Tree. I mean, just an example. 

Yesterday morning I used up all 5 of my brain cells for the day with this clever little idea: MOVIE TICKETS! Wade loves to call things “tickets” – like receipts or little pieces of paper. Anyway, the plan is that each day he receives 2 movie tickets.  He can use the tickets whenever he likes, given mom or dad gives permission. And for whatever movie he likes. But there’s only 2 per day and when they’re gone they’re gone. This will be good accountability for mommy and Wade.

Since I had used all my brain cells by 8:30am this next idea was stolen. Absolutely no credit can be given to me (except for my ability to wrap yarn around a ball, which as you will read, I still need some practice with). A friend posted on Facebook their family tradition: starting Nov. 1st they write something they are thankful for on a “feather” and put it on a turkey. They do this until Thanksgiving Day when their turkey is all full of feathers. I have been up to my eyeballs brainstorming what our Christmas Advent and celebration will look like. So much so that I hadn’t given any thought to Thanksgiving. So I decided to steal Kylie’s idea. A quick google search led me to Parents.com and I was able to hijack another idea. And here is the result:

I may be a little crafty but my creations are usually trial and error. I have a small obsession with yarn so I definitely had plenty of that lying around. I failed to read the instructions on Parents.com (a frequent occurrence for me) so I chose to wrap the dark brown yarn around a small ball of Wade’s. Then my turkey rolled right off the table. So I had to unwrap all the yarn, cut the bottom of the ball off so it would sit flat and rewrap it with an entire skein of yarn. Then I started with a tennis ball for his head. After having it completely wrapped and cutting my finger trying to connect it to the body, I found that it was far too heavy and made turkey fall over. Since it didn’t take too much yarn I just trashed the tennis ball and started over with a whiffle ball. Finally my turkey sat up straight. And that’s what I have to show for naptime yesterday. Two balls wrapped in yarn…productive.

Anyway, last night Wade wanted to write that he was thankful for corn. Which was evidenced by the 3 helpings he ate of it at dinner. You ever changed a diaper after 3 helpings of corn…yah, gross.

So there ya go. Tickets and Turkeys…well, really just one turkey but it sounded better to make them both plural.

Harvest Night or Bust

Well, we came really close to a bust.  Wade woke up from his nap at 3:15pm in a FINE mood. This is not totally out of character for him – he got his mama’s “wake-up grumpies”.  An hour later he still hadn’t chosen to improve his attitude. Now its time to get in costume for the festival.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. He’s been totally excited about his costume for the past 2 weeks as we’ve been working on it. Raise your hand if your kid suddenly hates his costume when its time to put it on. Andrew managed to wrangle the special Thomas the Train overalls I had “made” (read: hot glued a Thomas patch onto $1.48 overalls from America’s Thrift Store). The overalls lasted approximately 3 minutes. Wade took them off and asked for jeans. Ok. Pick your battles. The overalls are not worth the battle. Jeans: check.  Although he’s been wearing the conductor hat around the house for the past few weeks he again refused to wear it.

With both the overalls and the hat (and the shoes and the conductor bandana) he calmly and politely said “Mommy, I know we talked about wearing this before but I really just don’t feel like it tonight. I would prefer not to wear this item. Would that be ok?” So after having several “polite conversations” we manage to make it out to the car.

Arriving at church, Andrew and I make a quick bet as to how long he’s going to be willing to keep the actual James train on his body. I think one of us said 15 seconds, the other 20.

Good thing it was “Harvest Night” with costumes optional cause Wade ran around in a white henley and jeans the whole night. Oh well, we did manage to get a few good pics. (Thank you Calvary for providing candy for us to bribe our kid with)

Wade and James the Shiny Red Engine. Isn’t that the most amazing James you’ve ever seen? It was lovingly and creatively made by my AMAZING husband. Yah, in some ways it was a good thing that Wade only wore it for 35 seconds because he probably would have destroyed it if he wore it longer.

Cheeseball smile

That’s James’ freight car (AKA candy box). Andrew said, on the way home, that he didn’t mind that Wade didn’t wear the costume. The important thing was that he witnessed his daddy working hard to make something special for his boy as he remembers seeing his dad (the original Wade) do many times.

Chloe Bear wore her costume without contest…as long as it didn’t inhibit her thumb sucking she didn’t care what we put on her.

 

Wade and Chloe’s 4 (soon to be 5) cousins joined us so we captured some cousin love.

 

Wade and Callie

Wade, Callie, Ian, Sydney

Luke, 5 days younger than Chloe

Chloe: “Luke, get your grubby little hands off me”.

Luke: “Girl, you are really crampin’ my style here”.

Chloe vs. Banana

This morning Chloe tasted her first bite of food. As I mashed the 1 inch piece of banana, I explained to her how her little world was about to change.  I could get real philosophical on you here about how the intake of food could symbolize baby’s first steps towards independence and the parents’ huge responsibility to disciple that self-reliance into God-reliance. But I won’t.

Anyway, round one….Chloe and the Banana:

“Mom, I don’t know…do you really want to do this? I really think I could just stick with milk for the rest of my life.”

 

“Ok, if you insist. I got my game face on.”

 

'”INVASION! INVASION! We’ve been compromised.”

 

“Hmmm. Maybe I was mistaken. Perhaps banana is not foe, but friend.”

 

“Mom, take my keys…you’re going to have to drive. I’m feeling a little tipsy after that banana.”

 

Well, I’d say it went as well as I expected it to. She did get a couple bites down but she’s still working that little reflex that pushed the food back out of her mouth. Eh, we’ll try again next week. We’re not in any hurry to complicate our lives with food!

The Chicken Recipe

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roasted-Herb-Chicken--Potatoes/Detail.aspx

**I had to cook mine about 30 minutes longer. And I’d cut the potatoes smaller next time so they cook thoroughly.

Mmmmonday

 

Recently Andrew taught Wade how to eat an OREO cookie. Andrew likes to take them apart but I correct the technique today by reteaching him to dip it into the milk whole until it almost disintegrates.

 

Chloe observed…her foot.

This was later in the day…just before dinner.  Sign of a good mom = there are still OREO remnants on his face.

This was dinner. Yes, I roasted a chicken in/on my bundt pan. Thanks Real Simple for a great idea.

Revive

Did not realize this word was so packed with meaning:

1. to activate, set in motion, or take up again; renew.

2. to restore to life or consciousness.

3. to make operative or valid again.

4. to bring back into notice, use, or currency: to revive a subject of discussion.

5. to quicken or renew in the mind; bring back: to revive memories.

6. to reanimate or cheer (the spirit, heart, etc., or a person).

So, that’s the goal here. We got a new look (Chloe is not so into trains) and expanded subject matter. 

Another great term is “comic relief”…a very valuable commodity around here the last 13 weeks.  And since Wade and Chloe don’t always catch the humor I thought I’d get back to sharing our foibles with you. I can pretend someone is actually reading this and possibly laughing. It’ll be kinda like I’m interacting with another adult. Just pretend with me. 

So, since we last talked I had another kid. Her name is Chloe Ann Scharff and she will be 3 months old on Sept 1st. I don’t really know what today’s date is so I’m not sure when the 1st is but I think it’s this week. 

View Full Album

I have learned a lot from Chloe Bear. She is the polar opposite of Wade as an infant.  An appropriate word to describe Wade’s temperament as an infant (and largely now too) is “chillaxed”.  Chloe is bright-eyed and alert. She is dainty and sensitive. The baby books say that newborns sleep 16-18 hrs per day their first month or two.  I read this when Wade was a baby and wondered if it was a problem that my baby slept 21-22 hrs per day. I even asked my pediatrician if it was ok….oh, you foolish first time mom!  So in order to bring that average to 16-18 hrs., some babies need to sleep a lot less…like maybe about 10hrs per day. That’s my girl. Thankfully she has been a great nighttime sleeper from the get-go so really only about 2-3 of those hours were left for daytime sleeping. So fun. Especially with a 2.5 yr old around. Especially when she spreads the 2-3 hrs. out into 20 minute catnaps each one requiring rocking/bouncing her to sleep for 20 min. 

HOWEVER…my girl has turned a corner.  The last couple weeks she has been taking longer naps during the day and not requiring so much soothing.  If you had mentioned the idea of reviving this blog about a month ago I would have laughed (or cried) because there were many days I didn’t even get my teeth brushed until 3pm.  But I have a little bit of predictable time now. AND, most awesomely, she has starting going to bed at 7:30 ish so that blessed kid-free evening time has returned.

Wade has been a real trooper through all this. He has surely had his moments but I would say he’s probably shed less tears than I have.  He adores Chloe, even when she demands mommy’s full attention.  She loves him too and grins ear to ear when she hears his little voice. Wade is growing out of his toddlerness and into a little boy.  We are thoroughly enjoying hearing his thoughts and I’m sure I’ll share many anecdotes in posts to come.

Andrew has willingly stepped up to this huge new challenge of two kids.  He has lightened my load tremendously and I would probably be in a mental hospital if it weren’t for him. Not kidding. After a long day at work he comes home and adorns his “dad” hat without hesitation. Each day he plays with Wade from the minute he walks in, helps get dinner together, entices Wade to eat, washes dishes, bathes Wade and puts him to bed.  I have never had to ask him to do any of these things.  This is an amazing man. I am more thankful for him every day!

Alright, Word World is almost over and Chloe has been sleeping for an hour. Need to get my head back in the game here.

Btw, there’s a few pics up there – I experimented with the photo album feature of Live Writer. Not really sure what happens when you click on “view album” but at least you have those few little shots. More later…promise.

Big Boy Room…check, Nursery…check, Name…check, Baby Head Down…uncheck

35 weeks down, 4-5 to go.  It is hard to believe it is almost time for this baby girl to arrive.  The last month has been extremely productive around here. 

Step 1 was transitioning Wade into his new big boy bedroom.  Thanks to David, Anna & Callie having Wade over for a sleepover we were able to transform the downstairs spare bedroom into his new room.  This also required transforming the gameroom (code for “junk” room) into the spare bedroom.  Anyway, that all happened and we moved him downstairs.  Wade was very excited about his new room and we really haven’t had much problem with that.

 

His new room is the biggest in the house so we have some wall space that could use some lovin’ but we’re working on that.

The theme of his new room is “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”.  You can see the airplane quilt on his bed here.  This quilt is really special because it was designed by Andrew’s dad (Wade’s namesake) and quilted by his mom when Andrew was a boy. 

 

Step 2 was “girlifying” the nursery for Junebug.  I have really had a hard time deciding what direction to go in there.  I am not a super girly kind of girl so I didn’t want a whole lot of (ok, really I didn’t want any) pink.  Also, I wanted be creative but not break the bank.  So…here’s the result.

The Inspiration (an old, old toy that we found in some of the boxes of junk treasures from Andrew’s mom):

These were the biggest projects – well, they weren’t really difficult- they just required the most fabric.  Two of these bins were brown suede and 2 were tan corduroy so we (Connie) recovered them.  We (again, Connie) added the yellow fabric to the top of the large basket liner. 

Here’s a better view of the 2 main fabrics:

The other main project was the crib skirt.  I kind of wanted to make a bumper pad but realized that would require a lot of time and fabric for an item that really wouldn’t be used for that long.  So I just went with a plain white bumper and a yellow sheet.

 

So, I’ll also mention the walls are painted “Robin’s Nest” green/blue by Benjamin Moore.  I promise I found the color before I saw the name of it!

Here’s a close up of the mobile…thanks to Andrew’s creative thinking with the sun to cover the music box.  Can you tell the little guys are birds?

Also, we painted a tree on the wall:

This room has horrible ventilation so we needed full panel curtains that I’ll eventually line to help keep the room cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  These were a great deal from IKEA and we added the ribbon. 

These sweet little guys were made from Connie’s awesome collection of fabric scraps that she allowed me free reign over. 

The lamp I recovered with this adorable $4.99/yd fabric. I don’t really know where the nightstand came from but we painted it black and added these great handles from Hobby Lobby.

I don’t know that this picture frame/key hook has ever hung in our home but somehow it never got yard saled through the years.  Anyway, it was previously green and did not have the red ribbons hanging from it.  So, I repurposed it to hang Junebug’s hair bows on.  I do fully recognize the unlikeliness of this sweet girl having ANY hair for several years but every girl needs hair bows, right?

Step 3 was giving this child a real name.  Even though Wade will probably call her “Junebug” for the rest of her life, we figured that might not go so well through the teenage years.  So, without further ado…our daughter’s name is:

Chloe Ann Scharff.  “Ann” is after my mom’s middle name.  “Chloe” means “greenery” or “young sprout” which is not particularly meaningful to us, but it did inspire this artwork and our hope for her precious life:

I think that about covers the nursery and I’m not even sure that Blogger is going to allow me to post this many pictures!

 

The other thing I mentioned in the title was that Chloe is currently breech.  I’m 35 weeks so there’s not a lot of wiggle room for her to be turning somersaults in there.  Anyway, at my appointment this Friday Dr. M and I will be discussing the possibility of her turning Chloe from the outside.  If that doesn’t work then I will be scheduled for a C-section at 39 weeks.  Anyway, we’d just appreciate your prayers that she would turn on her own in the next few days.