Ponderings of the Gift bag

Just think,

your baby girl is here not by chance,

but by God's choosing.

God has allowed her to be here

at this time in history

to fulfill His special purpose

for this generation.

~Roy Lessin

We received a gift for Faith from our neighbors that arrived in a little pink bag with this quote on it. I've often contemplated God's reasoning behind having me born in this time, and with the family He picked out for me. Now that I have a daughter, I wonder the same thing about her. Faith wasn't born into our family, but she was chosen to be a part of it none the less. It is awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time to think that God has entrusted us to shephard her through life.

Goodbye TV, Hello Motherhood

You've probably heard this statistic: By age 18, the average child in the US has witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on TV. We discussed this in one of my early childhood classes once, and the general class concensus was that 200,000 is a pretty conservative estimate. I mean, that is around 30 violent acts a day. Consider that the average American youth watches 1500 hours of TV a year. Doesn't that number seem a bit low when you take into account commercials, sitcoms, movies, cartoons, etc?

Well, in our house (That's our new favorite parental saying, btw. As in, "I'm sure Jenny is allowed to ride her bike in the street, but in our house..." Hey, you've got to start thinking of these things early!) we have decided that TV will be limited to just an hour a day. That's two 30 min. TV shows or one movie. The problem is, Derek and I are severly addicted to having the television on.

This is how I know it's an addiction; Last year I wanted us to participate in the National TV-Turnoff Week, and we couldn't even make it a day. First, we had to start on Monday, because there was a NASCAR race on Sunday. Should of been our first clue that we were in for it. So, we decided to start Monday. We turned the tube on by dinner time. Couldn't even go one whole day...

So, to make ourselves feel better, we came up with a deal. Once the baby arrrived, we'd cut back on TV. Well, now that she's here, we need to make good on that promise. I've actually been doing pretty well. During the day, when Derek is at work, I almost never turn the TV on. (I've replaced it with blogging, but that's another story...) Our goal is that by the time Faith is actually paying attention to the TV (before her first birthday), that we are disciplined enough to wait to turn the tube on until after she goes to bed. This would limit our TV watching to just two hours a day. That, we would count as success. Wish us luck!

For more information on the benefits of limiting TV viewing in children you can visit the following websites:

• http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/sep/18/books.medicineandhealth
• http://family.go.com/parenting/article-561071-limiting-screen-time-t/

Property Laws

There are some cute posters available online that are the "Pit Bull Property Laws." I'd say ours follow these laws pretty well. I thought I'd share:

House Rules, Pit Bull Version:

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my mouth, it's mine.

3. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

4. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

5. If it just looks like mine, it's mine.

6. If I saw it first, it's mine.

7. If it looks edible, it's mine.

8. If you have something and put it down, it's mine.

9. If it is mine, it must never appear to be yours.

10. If I chew something up, all the pieces are mine.

11. If I get tired of it, it's yours.

12. But, if I want it back, it's mine

(Pictures, top to bottom: Thomas and "his" toy, Jenna in the cats' bed, Thomas and his blankie, Ryan and Thomas "share" their toys, It's tiring being naughty)

Give me 5

Five hours of sleep that is! Faith is now sleeping on a pseudo regular basis, for five hours at a time at night. Wooohooo for me! Sleep-deprivation watch out, for your days are numbered :-) At least I hope...

Shame, Shame Verizon

Have you seen the commercial for the new Verizon cell phone Dare? It's horrid in its continual feed upon a negative stereotype of an already misunderstood breed of dog. The American Pitbull Terrier is a gentle and loyal breed of dog that already suffers tremendously from a widespread public fear that, in its hysteria, seeks to destroy each and every dog - from little puppies to family companions to victims of heinous abuse. It is hard enough to help educate the public about the true nature of this once all-American breed of dog, without money-hungry, uneducated ad executives furthering despicable stereotypes just to make a quick buck.

I don't often jump on the petition bandwagon, but I am with this one. I urge everyone to contact Verizon either via e-mail or phone, and voice your concern over this ad. Some of you may not own a bully breed dog, nor may be actively involved with rescue or public education. However, I think we can agree that there is no place for hurtful, negative, violent stereotypes of any dog - regardless of the breed.

If you haven't seen the video click on the link and while your there sign the petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/671819979

Below, I have included a copy of my letter to Verizon. Please feel free to use it in your own e-mail. There is also a contact list for your convenience. Also, take a moment to sign the petition in the link above if you haven't already. You won't regret it!

To all whom this concerns at Verizon,

I was recently horrified by your TV ad for the new LG Dare cell phone. It is disgraceful and disgusting. To portray a breed of dog as aggressive and vicious is serving to alienate many outraged Verizon customers concerned about the humane treatment of all dogs and the negative message you are sending!

Furthermore, your brand of gimmick advertising serves to perpetuate negative breed stereotypes of the American Pit Bull Terrier (aka Pit Bull). This breed already suffers from being demonized by myths, public misconceptions and legislative ignorance regarding dog behavior. Irresponsible ads like yours seek to credit and promote these stereotypes.

I feel that it is my duty as a loving bully breed owner to urge all of my family, friends, and coworkers to cancel their Verizon accounts unless you pull this ad immediately. Exploiting the plight of dogs who suffer as a result of media sensationalism and animal abuse will not be tolerated by a society moving forward to promote animal welfare issues. Do the right thing. Dare to admit the ad was a mistake!

Sincerely,
Jacklyn B.



Who to Contact:

Verizon Corporate Office
140 West Street New York, NY 10007
(800) 621-9900

Bill Kula
william.kula@verizon.com
Director-Media Relations
(972) 718-6924 (o), (214)789-1644 (cell), (972)718-0184 (fax)

Brenda Raney
brenda.raney@verizonwireless.com
Executive director of media relations for Verizon Wireless
(908) 559-7518.

Robert (Bob) Z. Elek
bob.elek@verizon.com
Manager, Media RelationsVerizon Communications
(813) 483-2541

Call Bill Kula, Brenda Raney and Bob Elek directly and leave phone messages anytime. To reach the corporate office, you must call during regular business hours--Put that on your #1 To Do List! Be polite and direct in your request that they pull the LG Dare commercial ad depicting the American Pit Bull Terrier (aka Pit Bull) as a vicious junk yard dog :-(

Two Month Stats

Time is going by so fast. Faith is already two months old! We went to the Dr. last Friday, and here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs.
Height: 23 inches
Percentile: 75 % for height and weight
Milestones: She can hold her head up, look around, track voices and faces, kick up a storm, and smile like nobody's business

In other news, July 15th is also the day that Faith's new cousin joined our family. Welcome baby Ethan Paul! That brings the grandtotal of Faith's cousins to five.

What's in a name??

Derek and I agonized over picking just the right name for our baby. I mean, it's a lot of responsibility! A name is the first thing that someone learns about you. It will be the first thing all of her teachers know her as, what will go on college applications and resumes, it will be repeated before everyone on her wedding day, the list goes on. Okay, so maybe I am sweating it a little too much, but we certainly took the job of naming our firstborn very seriously. (Just ask anyone about our pets! They have first and middle names, and I spend hours picking just the right one for each and every foster dog...)

So, after all of this hard work, I thought it would be nice to share the reasoning behind Faith's name.

Faith ~ I read that Fay (my middle name and my mom's middle name) is derived from the name Faith. I'm not a huge fan of Fay, but I wanted to carry on the tradition of using it. Plus, Faith is such a beautiful name. It's strong, but feminine at the same time. No one will misspell it (Believe me, I know all about that!), and Derek LOVED it.

Nevaeh ~ When I was going through baby names, I came across this one. Derek and I both liked it, and J. really liked it as well. It was originally going to be Faith's first name, but the more we thought about it, the less sure we were about it as a first name. It's beautiful and unique, so we went with it as a middle name. (And yes, it is heaven spelled backwards).

Patience ~ This is the name J. picked out. We love that it is a part of Faith's name. J. wanted a name that was not overly used, and she loves this name.

Okay, so there you go. It's probably more than you ever wanted or needed to know about her name, but now you know :-)

Love at first sight...our adoption story

I don't believe in love at first sight...at least not romantic love. But, from the moment I laid eyes on my daughter, I was completely and utterly head over heels. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Let me start from the beginning...

Most people learn that they are expecting a baby by peeing on a stick, and having two little pink lines appear. For me, it was a phone call on Thursday, April 24th, 2008. Here is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to our baby a few weeks later:

Dear Tadpole,

Today is Thursday, May 15, 2008 and you are about to be born. We have been up since 1:30 this morning waiting for you to arrive in the world. Everything is happening so fast that I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and write about it. Four Thursdays ago, we got the call from LSS letting us know about a potential situation. I didn’t recognize the number on the caller idea, so I wasn’t expecting it to be the adoption office. S, was on the line, and she told me about a young woman who was making an adoption plan. She was due in just a few weeks, and was ready to pick out a family. She wanted to know if we were interested in having our profile sent for consideration. Of course I said yes!!!

As soon as I got off the phone, I called your daddy. He was at work, and I said, "guess what?!?" He was very excited, but a little nervous too. S. said we would have to wait a week or two before we would know if we got picked. All weekend all we could talk about or think about was finding out if this was it. Thank goodness we didn't have to wait too long. S. called that Monday. I was in class, and I called home to check the answering machine. S. left a message saying we had been picked, and the expectant mom wanted to meet us on Friday. I was so excited. I called daddy at work, my mom and dad. I paced up and down the school halls. There was no way I could go back to class, so I came home...

We met J. that Friday. Boy were we nervous! She liked us, and we liked her, so we decided to make a go of it. The Tuesday after Mother's Day, we met J. and her family for dinner. We really like her family. We cherish having an opportunity to get to know them. The next evening, Derek and I were doing some chores around the house. I told Derek that we should go ahead and put the car seat in, because the baby could come at any time. Who would want to have to mess with figuring the thing out then? So, we put it in, and went to bed. At 1:30 in the morning we got THE call. At 7:07 p.m. on May 15, just three weeks after we found out we could become parents, our daughter entered the world via C-Section. It was the most exhilarating, nerve-wrecking, bittersweet moment of our lives.

Faith Nevaeh Patience

We visited with Faith in the nursery while she was at the hospital. After hearing her cry for the first time, I instantly recognized it from then on from all other cries. There were a couple of other babies in the nursery with her, but we only had eyes for her. She is perfect, and beautiful. We are in awe! Walking away from J. with Faith in our arms was one of the hardest things we have ever done. There is no doubt that she loves this little girl with all her heart. We are grateful to have ongoing contact with her. She is truly an amazing person, and I am glad Faith has an opportunity to get to know her.

The Nursery

I thought that it might be nice to show off our nursery. We worked really hard on it, and it turned out just perfect! Even though Faith has yet to sleep in there, I think she really likes it.

This is what the room looked like before we started. It had been the puppy room - yes, our dogs are spoiled, and had their very own room.

Here I am before we knew that we were soon to become parents. Derek and I had fun painting.

Need I say more??

Jenna looks like she got caught being naughty. I can't remember if that was the case or not. I think she was just unhappy with the mess that I made.

Drum roll please................................

..............................................ta da.....................

Welcome

Well, I've decided that it would be easier to have one central place to post updates about Faith and our family. Everyone seems to have a blog these days, and I've decided it's high time we have one too.

In case your wondering, F.R.O.G. stands for Fully Relying On God. That is certainly what we have been doing lately. I saw that acronym about two years ago on a frog puppet at our local Christian bookstore. I bought it, because it was so cute, for our future baby. When it came time to decorate the nursery, we went with a frog theme, because F.R.O.G. really represented our journey through the adoption process.

Anyway, hope you enjoy going through life with us!

p.s. In case you are wondering what the avatar says, here is a larger picture: