So tired of it....

I'm tired of it ... tired of seeing children without homes desiring the love of a mom and dad....

tired of seeing it and not taking action...

I am tired of the fact that the system is so screwed up and that its hurting these kids...

I am tired of people thinking its "weird" or "irresponsible" or just plain "stupid" to want to take in these kids because of the issues that may come along with them .... you know... alot of these kids don't have issues.

What exactly trumps taking in children who need a home?

Your family may not have children that all look the same, have the same color of skin, the same nationality... but isn't that what heaven will be like? Do we turn down the invitation to be part of God's family because we don't all look the same?

I love my husband's heart... the last couple nights we have read over profiles, looked over pictures and watched videos of children waiting.... Kyle has such a big heart... he tells me he wants to take in these children instead of another baby for our next child. He says he can't wait until we are a little older and can take in some teenagers who will soon age out of the system.

We read about a boy - 15 - who asked his social worker, if when/if he gets adopted will he get to keep his new parents even after he turns 18... are they his parents forever?

I look at these kids and some how rationalize taking in 15 to 20 kiddos ... Kyle is a little more realistic :) Realistic... but he still sees the need and knows we can act on it. I love that about him. I love that he falls in love with these kids and their hearts the way that I do. I love that it angers him that people don't do more. I love how when I wonder out loud why people spend thousands and thousands of dollars on material things (instead of investing that money into a child whose soul will last forever) he simply replies "I guess that is their priority". He doesn't say it in a judgmental way... but more in a sad way.

I read this and I thought of Kyle... :
When I look at the fathers in these (adoptive) families, I am struck by their courage. Adoptive moms assure me that adoption is rarely ever a man's idea. And it is almost always an idea born of a woman's pain. The sorrowful heart of a mother meets the sorrowful heart of a child and together they begin a new life. But how do they get to "together?" They become a family through the courageous actions of a man who sees the pain of his wife and listens to her as she tells him about the pain of the child. Rarely, do these women beg and plead. Rather, like Mary, they trust God. They pour out their hearts in prayer and God convicts their husbands. I am assured that this is not the case of weak, badgered men who cave to whining women. Rather, they are tender, brave men who recognize a mutual need and hear a distinct call.

My husband is a great father. I love his relationship with our daughters - the way he values them and the way that he is an example. I look forward to seeing him father our daughters as they grow, and seeing him father more children that God brings us.

Who knows if God will open doors and bring children this way into our family - I can't help but believe that he put this passion in my heart for nothing.

Did I mention that I love my husband and I love his heart for the fatherless?

We all have things we are passionate about right? My passion is kids - their joy, their innocence, their love of life - what they should have but what many don't have. I see children hurting - kids being abused, kids forgotten, kids ignored.... I see these children without families, without a mom and a dad - and I want to just hold them...let them know they are loved.

God is calling us to take care of the fatherless. It isn't suposed to be easy... and kids aren't suposed to be perfect. The kids God is calling us to take in are broken and hurting. You would be too if you have experienced what they have. Most people are pretty messed up and have had easy lives compared to them. People expect kids available for adoption to not have any issues - when adults (and kids in intact homes) haven't worked out the same issues.

Kyle and I have been so blessed. We have great families... we have never gone a day wondering if our parents loved us. We have never wondered where we would sleep that night... wondered if we had to move to another temporary foster home.

We have a support system - we have great families....and we want to give that to kids who have never experienced it.

My daughters are awesome - I can't imagine my life without them. It feels like Kinsey & Cali have always been a part of our lives... they make us so happy! Have you met my kids? They are pure joy! Kyle and I want to bring other kiddos into our family - show them what it means to be loved unconditionally... and have our lives enriched by them.

We are young, and just getting started on our family - but I am so pumped to see the life that God has in store for us.... and the children he will bring to our family.

Read this song:
Well I don’t know if you remember me or not
I’m one of the kids they brought in from the home
I was the red-haired boy in an old green flannel shirt
You may not have seen me – I was standing off aloneI
didn’t come and talk to you, ‘cause that’s never worked before
And you’ll prob’ly never see this letter anyway
But just in case there’s something you can do to help me out
I’ll ask you one more time

All I really want for ChristmasI s someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose - Shoulders to ride on if I win
There’s so much I could ask for
But there’s just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

Well I guess I should go ahead and tell you now
If it’s really true about that list you have
Somehow I always seem to end up in a fight
But I’m really trying hard not to be bad
But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with
Well, maybe they could teach me how to get along
And from everything I’ve heard
Sounds like the greatest gift on earth would be a mom

All I really want for Christmas
Is someone who’ll be thereTo sing me “Happy Birthday”
For the next 100 years
And it’s OK if they’re not perfect
Well, even if they’re a little broken, that’s alright‘
Cause so am I

The Lemonade Stand Award

Kim at His Hands-His Feet nominated me for the Lemonade Stand award - which is for blogs showing great attitude and gratitude!!

I have been encouraged and inspired by Kim and her family's willingness to hear and follow where God leads them! Coming from a big family myself, I love hearing all about their experiences raising 9 kiddos (under nine years old - all through adoption!).
Thanks Kim!! :)

Here are my nominations - visit their blogs and be encouraged. These families seek to take in "the fatherless". Adoption is a blessing and it can change your life in such amazing ways. Don't fear it - embrace it :-)

His Hands His Feet

The Green Family

The Many Faces of KJ

Colors of Grace

Dreaming Big Dreams

Awesome Family Journey

Nomads In Life

The Adventures of Breagirl

Blessed by Three Miracles

Alison Bynum

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

All are welcome

Two weekends ago Kyle, Cali, Kinsey and I participated in our church's walk thru drama called The Bethlehem Marketplace. Kinsey helped grandpa (the shepherd) with the animals while Me, Kyle and Cali were Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. It was neat to be a aprt of it, but I received a little more than expected. We were standing next to "the manger" and as different people continued to come I felt emotionally overwhelmed as I thought to the very first Christmas and what it must have been like to lay my eyes on this baby, my Savior. God sent him - so helpless, so delicate, so vulnerable - to endure such pain in order to save us all from the the ugliness of our sins.

But that wasn't it - its WHO he came to save. As I stood there watching people come to see the baby, I was reminded of the simplicity of the gift offered. Everyone is welcome - the well educated and those who are not, the beautiful and the ugly, the woman who is depressed, the man who is an alcoholic, the woman who can't count the number of men she has given herself to or the man who suffers from seizures or who is mentally handicapped.

Parents were bringing their children and I thought of Jesus' love for children - their innocence and child like faith. There was a group of mentally challenged adults that walked thru, and one woman was just so excited to see "Jesus" and the angel. I couldn't help thinking of how God's plan for us to be with him is simple enough for her to understand because his son was sent special for HER. His love is a gift - his gift is offered to everyone. His gift can either be accepted or rejected - and to be undecided, is to decide. Those who don't know of his gift, need to be told.

No one will be sent away - everyone is welcome to come.

My beautiful girls :-)

Everyday I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is so selfless... a man who loves his family and his God ... a man who values integrity and doing what is right. I am blessed with two beautiful and healthy daughters ... who I love more than anything.

I am so blessed to be part of God's plan for their lives.

I absolutely *Love* being a mom :-)

My beautiful girl - such joy :-)

I think they are worn out :-)

Cali is getting BIG & Beautiful! :-)

Daddy & His Girls!

Mommy & her girls

A little family (Surprise!) shower
Daddy & Cali

She is a cutie :-)

Kinsey loves to hold her sister :-)

Sisters....

Kinsey just loves her little sister Cali and wants to take part in taking care of her by helping her mommy and daddy! Kinsey loves to give her new little sis kisses and get the pacifier for her when she is upset :-) Its such a beautiful love she has for her :-) We are so thankful :-)

My recovery is going great and I feel a little better each day! I still feel sore but not the kind of pain I had been experiencing previously.

Its amazing how much she can change just from day to day. We are blessed with our two amazing little girls :-)

Here are some cute pics of the girls on the couch in their matching outfits :-)

At home with baby

She loves to keep an eye on baby :-)

Kinsey is a little mother :-) She loves having baby Cali around

and helping mommy take care of the baby :-)

Cali Rene is here!

Hello Everyone! Well we now have our second little miracle! Some people view nothing as a miracle and some view everything as a miracle. . . . I would consider myself part of the second group. It's easy to see God in everything and the miracles that he blesses us with everyday - from a sunset to the birth of a child.

This experience has been difficult to say the least with alot of unknowns, unexpected occurrences, and a couple scary moments.

So here is how everything played out: There was a planned induction - I was scheduled to go in Tuesday night and then induced Wed morning. Well I went into labor on my own Tuesday afternoon/night and around 10pm my contractions were 3 minutes apart. They gave me an epidural so I could sleep comfortably through the night and just pick up in the morning.

Next morning we started up around 8am and the nurse was hoping and optimistic that we would have a baby by 1:30pm. I started pushing around 1pm and things were progressing good... I ended up pushing off and on until 5:30pm This was very discouraging because earlier in the afternoon they were able to see baby's head so we were thinking it would be close. I was pushing off and on to take a break and relax to get more energy for the pushing, get a bolas for the epidural etc. The doctor thought that although I was narrow that baby had plenty of room to make her way out.

Well, around 5:30pm he suggested that either we use the vacuum to help the baby get out or go to a c-section. He came back a few minutes later and said that he didn't think we should even consider the vacuum ( he thought it would cause alot of damage and then may not even work) and just go straight for the c-section.

I was prepped for the c-section but there was an issue with the epidural they gave me and I was able to feel more than should have - not the cut thank the Lord! but other stuff going on... it felt like my insides were being torn out of my body. I later found out that I had a ligament attached to my uterus that was torn in the operation (in a rush to get baby out) which often causes perfuse bleeding and can sometimes cause an emergency hysterectomy during the c-section. Thankfully this didn't happen - I consider this a miracle :-)

Then, they got in there during the c-section and they saw that there was maconium the baby had ingested. She was fairly far down and had twisted her body (head and shoulder) in a way that it was difficult for them to get her out. They also saw as they were trying to get her out that the cord was wrapped twice around her neck. Seeing the maconium and the cord they rushed to get her out. I was pretty out of it when they pulled her out and she was taken right away for them to make sure that she was going to be okay.

The toughest part is that I had no idea that anything unusual happened with the baby until I was back to my bed an hour later when Kyle asked if I wanted to know what happened even though it was "scary". He told me what had happened and said that the doctor told him that the reason the baby wouldn't come out during labor was because of the cord wrapped twice around her neck... also ...that if they had decided to go with the vacuum to pull her out, the result to the baby would have been devastating.

That night all I could do was cry... cry tears of thankfulness that Jesus had watched over my baby .... tears that God gave my doctor wisdom to go with what he thought would be best.... tears that my baby is here with us, alive and healthy.

I don't know how some people don't see the birth of a child as a miracle. The conception, development and birth of a child - made in the image of God. We have two beautiful daughters and God has such a great plan for each of them. We are so excited about this new addition to our family!

Love you all!

-crystal, kyle, kinsey and cali

(Cali is pronounced like Cal-ee...not Cay-lee)

Cali Rene
Born on Wed., 10-29-08, at 6:37pm
7 lbs. 9 oz.
21 1/2 inches long

How she got her name:
We just liked the name Cali - it means "beautiful"
and Rene is after Kyle's mom (her middle name is Rene)

Kinsey giving Cali a kiss!

Cousin Craziness :-)

Have you ever seen 5 kids under 7 all smile at the same time???

Not an easy task (thanks for making it happen aunt kelli and aunt kassi!)

So these past few days have been quite exciting! There are five (almost 6!!!) little grandkids belonging to Kyle's parents and this week the five of them were all together (two live in OKlahoma)... it makes for an eventful time and non stop action :-) Here they are last year & this year.... its amazing how much they change in one year!This one of the girls cracks me up :-)
Kinsey & Kate were born two months apart, they are little buddies :-) Its so much fun seeing them play together :-)

Kinsey Shots

Summer is almost over!

Its hard to believe that the summer is almost over! Its been such a great summer, Kinsey has just loved being outside and exploring all kinds of new experiences! We have added two bunnies to the family, so she has loved having them. She really isn't big enough to play with the dogs but she likes to watch them from the safety of the stroller or the porch.



I have 5 weeks left in this pregnancy and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by! The last couple months have been great...of course the uncomfortable sleeping but really nothing compared to how miserable my first 4 and a half months were. I think my favorite thing about being pregnant has been the way that you can feel the baby move around and adjust inside of you. I had no idea that I would actually be able to SEE her move around inside my stomach. It really looks like she is in there trying to find her way out. Its the craziest and most exciting things I have ever experienced. She is a very active baby and I love to feel her move. Its neat for Kyle to be able to feel her and SEE her too. Its been a great experience to have. I'm all baby - I feel huge but from what I have been told I am not that big. I am in school again - just one night class a week so Kyle and Kinsey get their special time together.

My Plan For Our Lives...

I am going to jump back two years in our lives. I had everything planned out for how our family would look and how our lives would play out. We were going to adopt a young (4-8 years old) sibling group of boys from the foster care system who were a racial minority because these children were the hardest to get placed in an adoptive family. We didn’t even want to adopt an infant. We did our training and waited. I bought books about raising sons, Bibles for little boys, and a few other things that were specifically for having boys. Was my “plan” selfish? No. Wasn’t it our desire to make a small difference in the problem of so many children without families to love them? Yes. So why wouldn’t God honor this request and bless us with the family that we desired? It was because HIS PLAN was so much better.

In January, 5 months after we began our wait for a family, we were told about Project Cuddle. The stories they shared of baby abandonment were devastating. It was very emotional (and still is) to think of a child suffocating in a garbage bag. We decided that we would sign up to be a “rescue family” and I noted (according to my plan) that we would be willing to rescue a boy of a racial minority. A couple weeks passed and I felt like God said “How could you limit the type of child you could save and the type of child you could love?” The fact was that I couldn’t…. I re-sent in our information and noted that we would be willing to rescue a child of any race, any gender, and any unknowns that they may have. A month later they contacted us with a child (not in my plans) – we said yes and she has radically changed our lives.

I look at my daughter… I hear her laugh, I feel her hugs, see that gorgeous smile and think of what I would have missed out on had I stuck to what I thought was right for us. It breaks me emotionally that I almost missed out on her life and the joy she brings. She has my heart – she is soooo incredible.

Another “plan” of mine was to not have a child biologically for a few years and until we had adopted a few more children. God had a better plan and here I am entering my 30th week of pregnancy expecting a baby ! She will be perfect – the perfect piece to this perfect family designed and put together by God.

It’s funny how I thought that I knew what our perfect family would look like. I am sure God smiles, knowing how his perfect plan is so much better for our lives. Who knows, we may end up with 4 s – I don’t know how I could ever have had a preference before now. How could I tell a woman that I would love her baby any less because it was one gender or the other? Maybe there won’t be any more children and His plan for our lives only includes these two princesses.

I am glad that I have a Father who knows us better than we know ourselves. I am glad that I have a Father who has a perfect plan for my life. I am glad that my plans don’t work out and that He has had every detail in place since before I was born. I am glad my Father knows what is best and amazes me with his blessings.

I, of course, still have plans – we want to adopt a couple more kids through Project Cuddle. I have no idea if my plans line up with his for our future – but I’ll take His plans over mine.

I don’t know what His plans hold – but I know he has them for our family.

I couldn’t be more thankful for my husband and two daughters – and I wouldn’t trade them for anything or anyone.




Isn't her smile amazing? And I get to be her mommy ;-)

Vacation :-)

Well we are coming to an end of our two week vacation.
It was such a nice time to spend with family and get in some activities here and there.Part 1: We started out by taking a 5 day trip to visit Kyle's sister and her family out in Oklahoma. Talk about some hot weather :-) It was nice to see them and catch up a bit .
They are loads of fun with lots of things to do and stay busy with :-)
Kinsey just loved playing with the girls and swimming while we were there.

Part 2: On the way back from Oklahoma we decided to make some stops and see some things that we had yet to experience. It was so nice being able to stop every couple of hours, get out of the car and spend some time at each stop. The first day out we stopped and went through the Fantastic Caverns and then spent the night near Saint Louis. The next morning we ventured to see BIG FOOT - the monster truck :-) It was HUGE - Kinsey looked soooo small compared to it. It was neat to see and get pictures of :-)

------------------------------------------------------------------Part 3: After arriving back in Indiana we spent a few days with my side of the family doing different activities for our vacation. Each summer my family drives out to California but this summer due to how expensive everything (mainly gas) is getting they decided to just have our little vacation close to home. We kept busy with fun things like the zoo, swimming at the reservoir, picnics, wiffle ball, and ending each night with a couple hours playing the game MAFIA. All eight of us kids were there and it was just a good family time.


(Kyle and Kinsey before lunch)

(They were walking thru the rainforest exibit and I thought they looked adorable-

Looks like love to me :-)

Part 4: After the mini vacation with my siblings and parents we invited the four youngest of my siblings to come up and spend the night and so the next four days consisted of time with just them going miniature golfing, testing out the driving range, a steam engine show and four wheeler rides.We finished the vacation off today with a picnic on the lake with Kyle's mom,
grandpa, sister, her two kids and his aunt and uncle. Never a dull moment when these kiddos get together :-) They just love each other and have such a fun time playing together.