Point Five

That is how old my son is now. Half a year....6 months...already...

We see more and more of Cavin's personality each day. He is a very independent little guy, and definitely very busy! He is always on the move. He is never still. Never. I am afraid I will be a very busy mommy once he begins crawling! At the moment, he gets where he wants by scooting on his back and rolling.

His newest trick is sitting up on his own! He's so big!

He smiles and laughs very easily. I love his grins! I also love how low maintenance he is, he will lay, sit or stand and play for a good while which allows me to get things done around the house, even while he's awake!

Cavin also loves to eat. So far we have tried sweet potatoes, bananas, avocado, winter squash, and applesauce. He wasn't so sure about the bananas, but has loved everything else!

Still no teeth yet, but lots and lots of drooling and chewing is happening!

We took him for his 6 month doctor's appointment today, here are his stats.

Weight: 15 pounds 8 ounces (50th percentile)

Length: 26 inches (50th percentile)

Here are a few snapshots we've taken recently, we had his 6 month pictures taken this past week, so we'll post a few of those when we get them!

Change is Coming...

To many areas of Matt and I's life, including our blog!

I realize my blogposts have been few and far between, but I've been in a drought when it comes to writing. But, this is all going to change!

As Matt and I begin the adoption process, we will do our best to keep you updated on whats going on with the process through our blog.

So, here's what's happened so far!

We decided to adopt from Ukraine. We would like a 2-3 year old little boy, but we are bravely expanding our criteria to a 1-5 year old boy, and we're still praying about if we are open to sibling groups or not.

Thursday, February 11: We put our adoption agency's application in the mail!

Monday, February 15: We received word that our application had been accepted! We are officially contracted with our adoption agency!

Friday, February 19: We go to get our fingerprinting done!

Sunday, February 21: We have our homestudy interview!

The homestudy is a big part of the adoption process. When our file goes to Ukraine, it will include two major pieces, our dossier and our homestudy.

The homestudy began with both Matt and I writing our autobiographies, which turned out to be 7-10 pages each. They were very detailed!

Sunday our social worker will come to our house for a 2-4 hour interview. She will delve into every nook and cranny of our lives, check out our house and make sure we are capable of being parents, prepared to adopt and that our house is safe for another child!

After the home interview our social worker will spend the next 4 weeks writing a concluding document about us with all of the information Ukraine requires to know about us.

Once the homestudy is done, we will begin working on paperwork for our dossier.

Prayer Requests:
-For our child who is in Ukraine now, somewhere.

-For our homestudy interview, we're not nervous, but we also don't really know what to expect!

-For our homestudy to be completed efficiently! 4 weeks max!

-For our finances. We cannot begin applying for grants until our homestudy is completed. But we also realize we won't receive all of the money we will need to pay for the adoption with only grants. We will also have to fundraise, which we are currently brainstorming ideas for.

5 Months!!

Cavin is growing and changing so much these days! I am so thankful I am able to stay at home with him. It is definitely a sacrifice financially, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

5 Month Stats:

Weight: 14 pounds 5 ounces

Length: 25 1/2 inches

This past month Cavin experienced his first ear infection. Even with a 103 fever and an ear infection our little guy mostly stayed in good moods with lots of smiles! After 10 days of amoxicillin we thought we were good to go. However, just a few days later he began not sleeping and screaming for hours at a time at night. But during the day he basically acted like his normal happy self. Exhausted from little sleep only an hour maybe two at a time, two weeks after diagnosed with his first ear infection, we returned to the doctor. This time he was put on augmentin. I haven't decided which was worse to deal with on our end, the screaming and fussiness of the ear infection or the side effects of the antibiotics!

Cavin is never still. He LOVES to wiggle and squirm. He wiggles so much in his sleep it wakes him up so had to start swaddling him again to get him to sleep! He even wiggles while he nurses. He is a strong little boy, he gets around by arching his back and pushing with his legs. He can roll over from tummy to back and from back to tummy.

We recently got a jumper which he loves! He loves to stand and I am convinced he will be an early walker and not at all surprised if he skips crawling all together before learning to walk!

He is getting a full head of blonde hair! Its so cute! Matt and I both had white hair as little kids and its looking like Cavin will follow in our footsteps.

Between our family, church family and friends, Cavin is never lacking for attention. He is spoiled rotten! He is a very content little boy, he hardly fusses and is full of smiles!

4 Months!!

I can't believe it, but Cavin turned four months on December 20th! He is a growing boy! He loves to sit and stand up. Most of the time he will fuss or scream if you try to lay him down while holding him! He does love to lay and play on his playmat! He has also rolled over several times. He also still loves to talk! His other biggest adventure has been starting to eat cereal with a spoon! After just a few bites he had it down and loves to eat his cereal in the mornings and evenings before bedtime!

Here are his stats and some cute pictures--the professional ones are from his 3 month pics.

Weight: 13 Pounds (25th Percentile)
Length: 25 inches (50th Percentile)

Merry Christmas from the Richards!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Cavin's First of Four!

On the Ground Before Takeoff!

Last Monday we flew to Oklahoma City to celebrate Christmas with Matt's family. This was Cavin's first time flying, and he did great! He slept most of the way there and ate most of the way home! We enjoyed our time with family and some time to just relax.

I can tell Cavin definitely spent three days straight with Daddy. As Matt was getting ready for work Thursday morning Cavin watched him everywhere he went until he walked out the front door. Then he immediately got fussy. He did the same thing today. I am glad he loves his Daddy so!

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest, but we forgot the diaper bag at home which is where the camera was!

We're up in the air!

Video from Matt

If you keep up with our blog, you may remember me talking about Matt Chandler after our Dallas trip a while back. If not, here's a brief recap of who he is.

Matt Chandler was my Matt's college minister while my Matt was attending Abilene Christian University for a year and a half. Then both Matt's moved to Dallas! Every Monday night Prestonwood Baptist church (the Baptidome!) hosted an event geared for college age students. Matt Chandler was the speaker, and its where I met my Matt, the first week I was in Dallas. We went most every week that year, drawn to the raw honesty and boldness of Chandler's words. He is a gifted speaker to say the least. He is the senior minister of The Village Church in Dallas, TX.

On Thanksgiving Day, Matt Chandler suffered a seisure that landed him in the hospital, which led to the discovery of a brain tumor, which could be cancerous. A few days before surgery to remove the brain tumor, here is what Chandler has to say about it. This video is short, but very powerful. Please watch it and please join the thousands of believers all over the world who are lifting him up in prayer.

Video from Matt

You Are For Me -- Kari Jobe

Matt and I both love this song, especially the moving lyrics by Kari Jobe. The chorus really spoke to our hearts, "I know that You are for me." So many times in a world full of bad things and hurt, we forget or don't truly believe that God is for us.

So faithful, so constant, so loving and so true

So wonderful in all you do

You fill me, You see me

You know my every move

You love for me to sing to you

I know that You are for me, I know that You are for me

I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart

To remind me who You are

So patient, so gracious, so merciful and true

So powerful in all You do

You fill me, You see me

You know my every move

You love for me to sing to you

Lord, I know that You are for me, I know that You are for me

I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness

And I know that You have come now even if to write upon my heart

To remind me who You are

Cavin Discovered his "Outside" Voice!

So Cavin loves to be talked to and to talk in response. Last night we were watching t.v. and he discovered his "outside" voice, it was hilarious! Its not the greatest video, I just grabbed our camera that was nearby and you can totally hear the t.v. in the background, but its the best one I got. Anytime I put the camera in his line of vision he would get distracted and just stare at the camera! He's too cute! He talked like this for a good 15 minutes!

Dallas, Texas

Last Tuesday, November 2, we began our trip to Dallas by driving to Dexter, MO for the night. My Grammy and family live there and for some of my cousins, it was their first time meeting Cavin. Plus, we got to eat some Dexter BBQ Ribs, some of the best ribs out there. It was good to spend time with family and it really helped to break up our trip.

Wednesday morning we got up and left pretty early so we could meet DK in Conway, AR for lunch. DK was a student at Vienna Christian School, we coached him in basketball, he spent over a month with us the summer of 2007, and he spent a good amount of time at our apartment in Vienna eating cookies and playing playstation with Matt and other boys from VCS! It had been way to long since we had seen DK so it was great to catch up. DK loves little kiddos and it was also his first time to meet and love on Cavin. A perfect stop to break up our 8 hour drive!

Our primary reason for travelling to Dallas was to attend the Right Now conference at Irving Bible Church, although friends and food were both close seconds! The conference was amazing. Kari Jobe led worship. It has been a long time since I have been a part of such powerful worship, since I have been brought to humbling tears before the presence of my Savior.

Francis Chan, George Barna, Kay Warren, Matt Chandler and Donald Miller were the main speakers. We were excited to hear Matt Chandler again. While in college in Dallas we attended a Dallas/Fort Worth event on Monday nights for college age students where Matt was the speaker. We were both truly encouraged and challenged as all the speakers bodly spoke about leadership as God had put on their hearts.

Matt Chandler hasn't changed at all, I love the way he preaches the Scriptures. He doesn't water them down, he's passionate, and he speaks boldly. He is the pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas, a church of around 8,000 people, primarily made up of 20 something year olds. Here's the website, I challenge you to check it out, podcast his sermons, listen to him preach. I guarantee you will be challenged and encouraged in your faith.

www.thevillagechurch.net

We were also able to attend worship services at The Branch, the church I used to work with and that Matt and I were children's ministry leaders at. It is a church that averages 1,500 people each weekend. It was great to walk in the church after being going for over two years and the preaching minister, Chris still remembered us. Granted he didn't remember our first names, but he knew our faces and knew we had been children's ministry leaders in his church. We had a nice visit with Chris and were able to see some of our good friends from our old small group as well as catch up with some people who supported us financially while in Vienna. Chris is also a gifted preacher, and it was his sermon series on Joshua that really challenged us to ACT on our call to be missionaries.

Matt's mom was able to drive down from Oklahoma City to babysit Cavin while we attended the conference on Friday and Saturday, which was nice for us, and Grandma as well! Cavin got to be spoiled! We also stopped on our way home on Sunday in Oklahoma City to eat a late breakfast with Uncle Mitch at IHOP!

This is why Cavin knows how to make so many funny faces!

A few other highlights from the trip...

-Cavin chuckled for the first time!! Its so cute!

-Only in Texas....a waffle iron that produces waffles shaped like Texas. No joke! Here's a picture for proof!

-Freebirds and Snuffers! (Restaurants)

Daddy and Cavin at Snuffers and yes, we are sitting outside!!

-Fresca at Pei Wei! (I LOVE Fresca, but its never a fountain drink, but they had it!)

-Upper 70's and even 80 and 81 degree weather!!

All in all, it was good to visit what is still to us, our home Stateside.