New to Us

This post is about a couple of things that are new in our lives lately. :) I'll have to download pictures from the camera someday soon and post some new ones of Jacobi...but for now all you get is me blabbing. ;P

I started a new venture recently to promote literacy and a love of reading. I became an independent consultant for Usborne Books & More! I'm very excited about the possibilities, but mostly about filling our bookshelves (it may take a new one, since our existing ones are full already) with awesome and exciting books for our children! If you've never seen these books and are the least bit curious, feel free to check out my website. :) I could go on forever about the great features of these books and all that Usborne has to offer, but I'll leave it at that. If you have questions or want to know more, you know where to find me. :)

The second thing that is new is that we are now a licensed foster home! Our final walk-through was on Friday and we are ready to go...well, our home is, anyway! We are excited but I have to admit that I'm a little nervous, too! There are so many uncertainties and unknowns--but we're thankful that God does veil the future because we might not be able to handle it if we knew all the details in advance! We know it will be a memorable journey, to say the least--and hopefully we can touch lives in a positive way, whatever direction it takes. :) We didn't get an emergency placement call over the weekend and I must say that I'm grateful for that. We'll see what (or should I say who) this week brings, if anything! :)

I guess that's the most of our new news here. Jacobi is growing and mastering the pre-walking skills, although he hasn't taken any steps on his own yet. I'm not going to push him, either. That will come soon enough! He has also discovered that there's this awesome water in the toilet, just great for getting both hands in and splashing (yuck!) and that the toilet paper does this really cool un-spooling thing when you spin it. :P Also, he can fall into the tub and finds that fun, but he wants help to get back out. Needless to say, the bathroom door just stays shut most of the time now...this mama isn't very sensitive to the exploration needs of her boy where the bathroom is concerned. :P The tupperware cabinet, though, is open for business. ;) He's also getting pretty good about backing off of the bed, couch, futon, etc. when he wants down--I'm pretty impressed with that new-found skill; hopefully it will save a few bumps. One other thing I should mention is that he has become quite the impressive imitator of sounds, too. He prefers burps, coughs, laughs, and other obnoxious sounds but also imitates pretty much any short phrase or word that we say. It's not the word that's imitated, exactly, but more the tone, syllables, and general sound. It's pretty cute and we love imagining that he tells us he loves us, etc. :P Guess there was more newness in our house than even I realized when I began!

Have a great week