The Three AND 1/2 stooges...

The Three Stooges

Now that we've covered everyone's birthdays, I thought I'd put up some "over the years" photos of the crew just for fun. Despite a few fights here and there, I think they really do like each other. Enjoy!

Izzy's Big Day

I am a few days behind since we had no computer but Isaiah's birthday was on Wednesday. He's six years old which is at times hard to remember because of his size (he has a good 1/2 inch on his 8 year old siblings). Here's our sweet birthday boy's adoption story.

Isaiah joined the family in August of 2001. He was just three weeks old but a whopping 12 pounds of cheeks and hair. Seriously, it was a little scary. We've noticed how everyone who sees Bella comments on how beautiful she is -people didn't say that about Isaiah. I know, but it's the truth. He looked like a ninety year old black woman. No kidding. But he was ours and we were in love with him.

For the first year of his life he had creased ears because the fat of his cheeks kept them folded. I never got through a grocery store run without being stopped by at least one woman who just wanted to squeeze him. I was once playfully scolded by a nursery worker for not putting snapping pants on him. That was up until she realized this six month old was wearing 2 toddler clothes.

Izzy was the most content baby I'd ever seen. In fact, thanks in part to the two year old tornado called Nathan, some of Isaiah's infacy is a blur to me. He loved his bouncy chair and refused to be rocked to sleep. He wasn't much of a snuggler and still isn't but he's been our joyful boy and given us so many smiles and lots of entertainment.

You see, Isaiah is so big that his body doesn't always cooperate with him. He's very clumsy. There are times when we enjoy a good laugh at his expense. Like the times he falls off his chair for no apparent reason or runs completely into a wall. We can't help but chuckle and he is usually a good sport. He's definitely a "bull in a china shop" kinda kid. But he has an amazing servant's heart. The boy will work himself to death for anyone. He just loves to help. Isaiah is named after my grandfather (middle name) who also happened to be a hard worker.

Izzy has always been a bit of a show stopper even though he doesn't particularly care for the attention; but we are seeing more every day how he will also be a heart stopper. I can see the future in those brown eyes and my sweet boy with the big, beautiful smile is growing up to be so handsome.

If we can just teach him to give affection without causing bodily harm, there might be hope for the future Mrs. Isaiah Sexton.

Up and Running

At last, we are back on line. The house is coming together well -still a few walls to paint but almost all of the boxes are unpacked. We have met many of our neighbors and have averaged 9 to 12 children in the yard every afternoon. Here are few pictures of the work in progress:

Angela, the trim queen

Shelby, in the new uh, guest room.

Bella's contribution to moving day.

Queen Isabella is crawling everywhere and getting to know her new kingdom by tasting anything she can get her hands on. The boys are hoping for bunk beds to arrive soon and we are getting used to the new noises of "city life".

Here we go again...

After sorting, packing, resorting, and repacking AGAIN, we are ready to move. We closed on a house in Wake Forest yesterday and the Uhaul is downstairs waiting to be stuffed. The house is almost completely painted inside thanks to the power force of Ben and Shelby McRoy, Frank and Angela Pribyl, and Amy Moon! The mastermind behind the color choices (an ingenious designer who shall remain nameless) was greatly pleased with the outcome. Pictures will come soon but here are a few of the expressions that were heard from those who have seen it:

"holy cow"
"whoa, this is fun!"
"you mean you chose these colors?"

Oh, ye of little faith! =) I can't wait to see the reaction of the guys coming to help us load up. And of course, we couldn't have accomplished so much without the help of the "wee watchers"; Louise, Frank and Angela, and Teri! THANK YOU!!!

Since we are transitioning yet again, we will be without computer access for a few days. Embarq tells us that we should be up and running again by Tuesday of next week. Let's hope that's true. We will post and put up pictures of this newest adventure at that time. Pray for safety through all of the lifting and traveling today and that we will get settled into a new groove soon!

Nathan's Birthday and Story

Nathan turned 8 today and is officially out of a car seat! woot, woot! Praise the Lord. Two down and two to go. I wanted to share Nathan's story on his special day. So, here is an excerpt from my autobiography (something we had to do for the adoption process) which tells about his adoption. It's long but it's a good story.

We began the paperwork for adoption in April of 1999. Nathaniel was placed in our arms on August 10, 1999. That’s a fast adoption, right? Yes, it was in retrospect but what’s that saying about a watched pot? That’s right. It was the longest four months of our lives. We were right back where we’d started; throwing fits with God for not following our timetable. It was in the middle of one of these tantrums that the Lord finally got my attention.

I was home alone one day and I had cried and prayed until there was nothing left emotionally. I sat with my Bible in my hand (please note that I had not bothered opening it until after venting my fury –pitiful!). I was sick and tired of reading the same passages over and over. You see, I had been picking and choosing the ones that I thought would put the most pressure on God to act immediately on my behalf. Verses like Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” According to my calculations, God needed to uphold His reputation by making good on those promises RIGHT NOW! (you know you've done it, too!) But obviously He wasn’t getting the message.

So, spent and frustrated, I decided to read a passage of Scripture that was obscure, if you will. I had never done a detailed study in the book of Ecclesiastes and didn’t know of many people who had. It seemed like a good starting place. Initially I did what I had painstakingly trained myself to do. I skimmed the page for any “key” verses that would help me tighten the fetters I had placed on God’s wrists. Nothing jumped out. Then I hit chapter five and the words exploded on the page. I stared in disbelief for a few seconds. It was so specific, so personal, so not what I wanted to hear that I knew it was exactly what He was saying to me.

“Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore, let your words be few.”
Ecclesiastes 5:2

Ouch! My words had been many; my mouth had been rash; and my heart had uttered hastily time and again. An almost audible voice thundered this paraphrase, “Shut up you whiny baby. You can’t see what I (God) see. Just be quiet!” Maybe you’ve never been slapped upside the head by God. The thing is it hurts…for a moment. But the same hand He smacks you with is slathered with salve –a healing balm. It stings and then instantly soothes. Amazing grace indeed.

I spent the next days and weeks learning (and failing repeatedly) to hold my tongue. I knew that God could handle my incessant ranting and raving but that enough was enough and sooner or later I had to “be still and know that He is God.” And next thing you know, a precious baby boy was placed in my arms. He was perfect in every way. Nathan was five weeks old when he came home with us but weighing just over seven pounds, he still seemed brand new. It was at this time the agency told us that our profile had been chosen by Nathan’s birth mother on the very first day it was shown. God had already provided and already been faithful before we could even see it.

Nathan is Mr. Whimsy as noted occasionally on this blog. After we sang Happy Birthday to him in bed this morning, he jumps up and does a little booty dance while singing "I like to move it, move it." Silliness. He is Mr. Compassionate. I'll NEVER forget the day that Mamoune was in trouble and he pulled me aside and asked to take her place -no strings, no hidden agenda, just love for his sister. And he is Mr. Supreme Snuggler. In fact, we have his word that even after he gets married and moves out he will come over on Friday mornings and snuggle in the bed with us. ;-)

Nathaniel means "gift from God" and he is exactly that!

Misc. Photos

Before I give you another batch of photos I thought I'd share a Nathan-ism with you. His birthday is on Saturday and on the way home from church we had this conversation:

"Mom, I can't wait for my birthday in two days.

You're excited, huh?

Yeah, but I've been acting all eight-ish today anyway.

Oh. okay. What have you done that was um, "eight-ish"?

Like doing back flips on the playground. That's pretty scary for a seven year old but I can do it now."

I'm wondering what cool things I'll be able to do when I'm all thirty-four ish. I'm pretty sure back flips are out. =) Here is one last batch of pic's.

More Highlights

On the Harrrington front (Amie's side of the fam) there was never a dull moment -not with 8 of 10 grandchildren present and accounted for. But Grandad was ready with a plan and power tools. The kids made their own birdhouses and loved it. Here are some shots of the crew in action.

Cheyenne (my youngest niece -the camera loves her)

Khiley Beth

Jordan, the tool man.

Lisa -taking it very seriously.

And here they all are with the finished product. They painted them the next day but I don't have a picture of it. We have a license plate topped birdhouse for each of the states that Granny and Grandad have lived in. Pretty cool, huh?

Thanks Grandad for a great idea and a great memory!

Atlanta Highlights

Despite everyone falling apart, there were some fun times on our trip to Atlanta. Here are a few of them:

This is what I will call the Sexton Men Olympics. It is a day-by-day documentary of the interaction and quality time shared by Tim and his dad.

Here they are sharing a brain, I mean, ipod. They were just getting in the zone for their first big event which was...

synchronized peanut eating; followed by the even more difficult...

synchronized ice cream eating.

The discipline of these men is extraordinary. Years of training and some serious genetics make them an unbeatable team.

Unlucky 13?

If you've read the last few posts then you know just how crazy

our lives have been recently. We knew things were insane but even WE didn't realize how bad it was until we were standing in the pharmacy at Walmart waiting to pick up medicine and Tim looked at me in dismay and said, "oh baby, it's our anniversary."

That's right. June 25th, 1994 two very young and very stupid people stood before God, family, and friends and promised to love each other "'til death do us part." Thirteen years later, we aren't so young, we're still pretty stupid, and since neither of us is dead yet -we are still together. =)

I must confess that had we experienced an anniversary like this in the first three years of marriage, I would have been reduced to a slobbering ball of shattered expectations. But on this ironically appropriate occasion, I can honestly say that there is no one I would rather be with "in sickness or in health" (heavy emphasis on the sickness) than my Timothy. -beep-beep-beep...that's your sap radar going off

For those who know the story, you can yawn through it or skip down to the bottom but here's how it all began:

Tim and I were both chorus geeks in high school. We auditioned for our school play and were cast opposite each other as Tony and Maria from West Side Story. (cue card: awwww!) For me, it was true love right from the start. I knew immediately that this was the guy I would marry. I just had to convince Tim. Are you convinced yet, honey? =) We dated through my junior and senior year and endured a period of long-distance love while Tim was in school in Anderson, Indiana. Then on my 19th birthday, he proposed. We were married just over a year later. There were lots of people who thought we'd never make it -a stage romance that was doomed to failure. Good thing God is so much bigger than that.

So, 13 years today and what've we got to show for it? By the world's standards, not a dang thing. We live in someone else's barn for crying out loud. Thank goodness that isn't the standard we go by. On the way up from Atlanta yesterday, we heard a preacher talking about finances and he said if you want to know how wealthy you are just add up everything you have that money cannot buy and that you can't take with you. Well, in those terms I have an incredible life of love, passion, laughter, four amazing children, and blessings I cannot even begin to list. I am a millionaire!

Tim, you are my best friend, a wonderful daddy, an amazing leader for our family, and I love you so much. oh, and as soon as you get those fungus toes cleared up we'll do some serious celebrating. ;-)