Do you recognize this woman?

*UPDATE*

You people are fabulous!!! I haven't received this many comments about a post in quite some time! LOL Your compliments are truly appreciated and have given me much needed chuckles after a stressful week. And to reply to those who asked about Noelle's response-- she did indeed give me a curious and surprised look when I walked in the door, like she wasn't sure who I was. Then she needed to feel it...and has been rubbing my head whenever we hug.

The response at church has also been quite amusing. They've only seen me in a longish hair "style" (I use this word loosely) and have been quite shocked at the change (tho' positive). I've even had some members start to approach me to welcome me to the service and then realize who I am! Too fun!!

As to Eric's reaction-- well, let's just say he is happy that I am happy. He prefers long hair, like most fellas do, but he says I'm beautiful no matter what shape my 'head' is in. That works for me! :)

Any guesses??

It's ME!!

I've been sick of my no-particular-style stuck-in-the-80's look for quite some time. Many have heard me say, "I REALLY need to get something done with my hair!" Even my husband has been after me to get to the salon. (Allow me to clarify: Eric prefers my hair long tho he always seems to like my look regardless - he's a good fella!) So when my mom said on Wednesday that she would like to treat me to a new 'do, I jumped at the chance.

We headed to Regis at the mall. The place was dead on a rainy Wednesday morning, and the manager, Rachel, was able to take me right away. I had no idea what I wanted, so she kindly sat with us to look at style books and discuss options.

When I pointed out a couple short styles I liked, she exclaimed, "You are willing to going THAT short?" I replied, "Sure, why not?" And then the fun began!

With my back to the mirror, Rachel snipped, dried and styled, and my mom grinned from a nearby chair. When the job was done, Rachel spun me around to see if I approved.

Boy, it sure is a different look for me, but I think I'm going to like it. I even feel more youthful and have a new bounce in my step. What I'm thinking now is, why did I wait so long to get this done?!

Here's a couple shots I took with my phone:

Disappointing News

As it turns out, the woman who wanted to purchase our home could not get approved for the necessary loan amount. So folks, we are back to square one.

In the midst of our disappointment, however, we know that God is still in control and HE has our buyer. March is typically when things start moving again in the housing market, so maybe we will see some more interest in our house soon.

We do ask for your continued prayers. We know that God is calling us to adopt again, but we want to wait for relief from this financial burden before we commit to the process. We desire to be good stewards of all He has given and want honor Him with our finances. We had hoped to make some money from the sale of our house to pay down debt and get started with an adoption agency, but in this economic climate we may have to drop the price rock bottom to just get rid of the thing. It is difficult to know what the best move is. Please pray that we do the right thing.

I keep reminding myself that even if we don't make a dime on the house but simply have the relief of no more mortgage (which of itself would be terrific), God will always provide. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so who am I to worry anyway? :)

Friday's Play Date with FCC'ers

Friday morning a group of moms and daughters from our FCC group met at the mall play area. The girls had tons of fun and it gave us grownups an opportunity to visit. Then we adjourned to the food court for lunch. A fun day was had by all~

Noelle is very excited to see Maggie arrrive at the mall play area

Elianna and Elizabeth - apparently driving is better with 2 behind the wheel!

Teagan is a girl on the move

House

No news on the "house situation". We appreciate your continued prayers.

Tinkle Watch 2

(I have to chuckle as I write about this stuff. Someday when Noelle is old enough to read through this blog, I can vividly picture her reaction to the chronicles of her toilet training progress. That will be something!)

Noelle's toilet setup in the hall off the living room

I am such an excited mommy right now! My little angel is enjoying her naptime slumber and I am rejoicing about the progress she has made this week with toilet training.

Our official start day was Tuesday. Here's the stats:

Tuesday:
1 tinkle accident at lunch time (but no potty today (a.k.a. poo-poo))

Wednesday:
1 tinkle accident after dinner - this one was partly my fault due to lingering over dinner with friends at church (our Wed. evening meal is at church)
1 potty accident while in the church nursery

Thursday:
0? (I don't think there was a tinkle accident at preschool, but a potty in her diaper during preschool naptime)

Friday:
0 accidents (though no potty today; we are feeding lots of pear juice and prunes)

Saturday:
1 potty accident this morning (though she tried to finish on her potty chair)
Then...Wah Lah!!! After lunch she produced a potty on the potty chair all by herself!!! People, it's time to crack open the sparkling cider! WooHooo!!!!!!!!

Of course Noelle was very excited with her accomplishment and proclaimed, "I made a long SNAKE!!"

And what did I do? After awarding the her the promised lollipop--

--I took a picture of said snake and emailed it to Eric. Yep. Yep, I did.

His emailed response was, uh..., let's just say "impressed" and leave it at that. ;-)

Tinkle Watch

The very latest on Noelle's potty training has been added to my earlier post below:

"Potty Training OR "Throw the Kid in the Deep End"

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE (re: house)

Melissa, our realtor, called this evening. The individual who looked at our house is an older woman who lives right there in Richmond. She's been renting a house for several years and really wants to own her own home. She brought her son and daughter-in-law to the showing. And guess what?

She loves it!!!

And not only that, but rather than doing the lease-to-own, she wants to buy the house outright!!!

She will be speaking with the bank this week and if she can get a the needed loan (she's got a few "issues" to clear up, so please pray...), she wants to move forward right away with the purchase. (If the loan doesn't come through, she is still interested in a lease-to-own.)

Eric and I are just so hopeful. I can hardly keep my excitement from bubbling out of me, but I know we still need to pray and WAIT. Dear Ones, hang with us a little bit longer and keep sending those prayers to our Heavenly Father. And as always, we will let you know what happens.

All our love-

Jen and Eric

Okay. The house is being shown tonight. Not sure what time, but I'll post something here if/when I find out. We soooo appreciate all your prayers. I just gotta relax and breathe. Leave it at the feet of Jesus.

Love you all!
Jen

Potty Training OR "Throw the Kid in the Deep End"?

**UPDATE**

Noelle made it all day and all evening with only one accident!!! Yeehaa!!! (This one accident occured during lunch. Our kiddo highly values meal time. lol ) She is currently sleeping peacefully, wearing a pull-up, and her froggy potty chair is close at hand. We also removed the bed rail on her converted crib/toddler bed so she doesn't have to climb out to get to the potty. She did not actually potty (bm) today, so we'll see if that happens tonight - she had a messy diaper this morning. Hopefully our toilet training won't lead to constipation... Tomorrow - prune juice!

I'm very interested to see what the night holds.

But right now I'm on cloud 99!!!

*****************************************************
OOOOhhh do we dare???

Yes. Yes we do.

We sent Noelle to school in PANTIES!!!!!!!!!!

What led us to go out on a limb today, you ask?

Well...for the first time yesterday, Noelle, who was wearing panties from her naptime to bedtime, let us know when she needed to go tinkle and potty - first time ever that she seemed to recognize her body signals and then told us about it. WOOHOO!!!

So what did I do? Last night I went to WalMart and bought a super cheap potty chair in the form of a happy faced frog. It's perfect. Noelle loves frogs. She's got her stuffed animal "Froggy" that we sent in her China care package, and he's one of her best friends. She's got a frog blanket which also came to her in her China care package, and this blanket is oh-so-soft and cuddly yellow. And most recently she acquired some frog undies. See the theme here?
(Note: We actually have a friend who's got an "all the bells and whistles" chair she will be giving us the next time we see her, but frankly I was excited and couldn't wait until then.)

So this morning we snuck it into her bedroom before she was quite awake. When she saw it, she was all big smiles and wanted to immediately sit on it (fully clothed, at first). When asked if she wanted to wear a diaper or panties to school today, she insisted "Pantieeees!!!!" Then before heading out the door, Noelle pulled down her clothes, had a small but successful tinkle in the froggy chair, and pulled her panties and pants back up (only slightly askew) all by herself. Yay for our big girl!!!

So...I decided to just go for it. We hadn't even been working on the potty training much the past several days. I was about to give up because she seemed to find it all too exhausting. But after yesterday... Well, jump right in, I say!

So as I write this post, Noelle is off to preschool with Daddy. She is armed with a bag full of extra panties and pants. She left with a big "well done!" sticker on her chest and a huge smile on her face.

Tune in later for "Tinkle Watch"

Please PRAY tonight and tomorrow!!!!!!!

Our realtor is showing our house (in MO) tomorrow to a woman who is interested in a lease-to-own situation. This is not ideal, of course, and much depends on the whether or not the leaser/buyer follows through on their end of the deal. We are just getting to the point where we need something to happen very, very soon. We just want free of this debt burden once and for all.

So please pray with us -- and tell all the prayer warriors you know! -- for this whole situation. If God has brought this woman to us as the solution to our housing situation, then pray that we will come to an agreement that works on both ends. If this is not the buyer that God has in store - if our buyer is coming next month when the market traditionally picks up - then pray that the deal will not work or we will feel a strong halt in our spirit about signing an agreement.

'Will keep you posted! Thank you SO much!!!

Why An Older Child

Why An Older Child

I saw you meet your child today.
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her.
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby,
Yet inside I'm aching miserably.
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today,
In love with her before you met.
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before,
But you came for a second babe.
"Does no one want a child of four?"

I saw you meet your child today,
But this time there was something new.
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
"Can this be true? I'm almost six!"
And there are infants here you see.
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose was me.

by Debbie Bodie

Could Uganda adoption be for YOU???

Remember the family that lost their home in a devastating fire (I posted the link on January 21)? Well, their 2 most recent additions to their family - a toddler boy and girl - come from Uganda. The story of their adoption is a truly amazing and miraculous act of God! You will be blessed when you read their story!

Here's the link to their Ugandan adoption story: http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-adventure-beginspart-one.html

And this link gives a basic overview to the Ugandan adoption process:

http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2008/12/adoption-from-uganda-thru-our-eyes-and.html

I challenge each one of you to discover how you might follow the Biblical charge of caring for orphans and widows. Might it be to donate to an orphanage, to sponsor a hurting child, to be a prayer warrior for the fatherless children of the world...or maybe even to ADOPT?? God WANTS to do amazing things in each of our lives. All He requires is a heart and life that is available for Him to use.

Check it out - then think about it. :)

(And no, we are not announcing our plans to adopt from Uganda. We are still seeking God's will and His leadership for our next adoption, though we are open to anything He desires. We are still leaning toward *something in particular*. More details coming soon!)

FCC Chinese New Year Party

On Saturday January 31st we attended the annual Chinese New year's Celebration at Silverdale Baptist Church with the local Families with Children from China (FCC) group. It was a wonderful evening! Eric and I feel very blessed to be in a community where there are so many other precious kiddos adopted from China. Growing up with friends that have the same ethnicity and background as Noelle will be a tremendous support as she grows up (thinkin' 'bout those pre-teen years...)

My mom and dad (Mary and Roger) were able to join us for the evening's celebration.

My 2 favorite people!

Grammy and Granddad are lookin' sharp in their traditional Chinese tops.

The kids loved running and playing in the gym. You can also see where the professional photographer set up in the corner for family and group shots.

Creativity at the craft table

The kids are really enjoying the many projects that the FCC volunteers set up.

Here is Noelle with one of her playgroup buddies, Teagan, and her big brother Aidan (Noelle's current crush - she already prefers the older guys! ;-) )

(from left to right) Hannah, Elizabeth, Elianna, Teagan, Noelle and Aidan - several playgroup members - they actually climbed up on these bleachers and posed, by themselves - gave us moms another great photo op

Break it down!!

Uh oh!! This almost looks like a slow dance to me. Okay, dating is definitely out until she's 25!!!

I miss the SNOW

The view out our back windows

Though not 'just' snow - we've had some of that in Tennessee, big flakes even, just nothing sticking. Today is one of those days with below-freezing temps. But what is the point without a layer of snow on the ground?

I miss the times when there is *so much snow* that there is almost a 'festive' feeling in the air. With a heavy blanket of snow, you are freezing cold but somehow you don't mind because you feel warm inside, 'electrified' even.

Accompanying that electric feeling is the joy of messy, slipping, sliding acrobatics. Everyone is laughing and giggling as they struggle to keep their balance, doing a sort of avante garde ballet to a backdrop of puffy white. How can you not burst into a huge grin with such antics?

And the great excuse for stocking up on the *necessities* - snacks, dvd rentals, etc. "Shucks! I think I'll have to miss that evening meeting. Better stay close to home in this weather!" Break out the marshmallows and hot chocolate - light the fireplace - snuggle up close to those you love!

But the thing I love most about a fresh blanket of snow is the Quiet-quiet. The heavy flakes act as a damper to the noise and chaos of a busy world. Everything seems to go dim and fade away. Standing in the middle of a wide, white, open space, you inhale deeply and you can Think. It is calm. Peaceful. Dreamy.

Aaahhhh snow...

If you look closely, you can see the big flakes coming down (but not sticking...) in this photo I took earlier this week

psst! some more...

Apparently I stirred up a little curiosity with my earlier "psst! something new is on the horizon" post.

Initially when I put that little teaser on the blog, it was intended to buy me some time for thinking through a more detailed post, though I won't deny that a deep, deep part of me just thought it might be fun to torment you all. (Hey, just keepin' in real!) ;-) I just did not realize, however, how many family and friends would contact us wanting to know what the big news is.

One funny incident I'll share is about Eric's parents. Not long after I published the post, Eric gets a concerned call from his folks wanting to know what is going on with us. They had just read the blog and wanted to find out what we hadn't been telling them. Oops. My poor hubby actually had no idea, not having read the latest installment of JTN (Journey to Noelle). He tried his best to assure them that everything is fine, good in fact, ...and immediately gets online.

Then he calls me. "What exactly are you referring to here??"

Oops again. I thought HE at least would know what I'm referring to. (Note to self: keep working on Communication)

I explain the thing ('translate') and he says, "Okay. But you're going to drive people nuts. Why don't you just tell people??"

tehehehehehe--

Last Sunday at church I had a friend catch me after service. She says, "What's the big news on the blog?!!?"

(Incidentally, this friend, who wishes to remain nameless, has *the best* morning routine. She arrives early to work, warms up her breakfast in the microwave, sits down to her computer...and logs on to "Journey to Noelle". Man oh man, I'm feelin' the love! Then after reading JTN, she checks the online obituaries. Love it!!)

Not having a good answer for her, I just tell her to keep watching the blog. At this point I knew I would have to do a follow-up post soon.

Okay.

Might

as

well

just

spit

it

out.

"Journey to Noelle" is going to be changing in a few months.

The title is going change.
"Journey to ???"
...to be announced

The Johnson family is adopting again!!! Wooooooohoooooo----

Now before you get too excited----this is NOT happening right away. Much depends on our house back in Missouri selling. If it sells this spring, we hope to officially begin the adoption process (e.g. sign with an agency) this summer.

We are still praying through our final decision of where to adopt (here in the States or internationally), how to adopt (we are considering an 'independent' adoption), and what age of child. We actually have several options before us, but are leaning more strongly towards two in particular. In my next "psst!" post, I will share many more details and the options that are before us.

What we do know for sure is that God has placed adoption on our hearts and in our hearts, and this is the plan He has chosen for our family. Even now He is preparing a child, born or not yet born, for our family, as He is preparing our family for this new child.

Friends, get ready to join the ride!!!